Skip to main content

Full text of "The life and teachings of Keshub Chunder Sen"

See other formats 


4f,*Li.  2.X 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


-♦$  PROBSTHAIN  &  Co,  j(- 
■+1  Oriental  Hers,  jo. 

_^4i  Qreal  Rui  ai  n  Sti 

British  M     •  J*" 

"*?    /,  ON  DON,     W   C    gt* 


Division  -J^.U-I  £  fc  t? 


Section 


THE  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS 


OF 


KESHUB  CHUNDER  SEN. 


By  P.  C.  MOZOOMDAR. 


CALCUTTA : 

PRINTED   AND    PUBLISHED    BY   J.    W.    THOMAS,    BAPTIST 

MISSION    PRESS. 

1887. 

All  Rights  Reserved. 


TO 

ail  prists, 

IN   WHATEVER    LAND   OR    NATION,    WHO    OUT  GROWING   THE    IN- 
FLUENCE  OF   OLD    CREEDS,    HAVE    INCREASING   FAITH    IN    THE 
SUPREME   GOD,    THE   ALL-FATHER,     THE   ALL-PERVADING 
EVER-ACTIVE    PRESENCE,  ACCESSIBLE   AND    RESPONSIVE 
TO    EVERY   MAN   IN   DIRECT    COMMUNION,   WHO   WAIT 
FOR   THE   ADVENT   OF   AN   ALL-EMBRACING   NEW 
DISPENSATION   OF   THE    SPrRIT,    WHO    BELIEVE 
IN    THE   UNITY   OF  ALL  TRUTH,  AND   ALL 
HUMANITY   IN   A    UNIVERSAL 
BROTHERHOOD, 

SEfjts  toork  on  tljc  3Life  anfc  Suarijhujs  of  fftt'm'stn: 
itoljuu  Cjjunotr  &m 

IS    LOVINGLY    INSCRIBED. 


PREFACE. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  realize  that  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  has  ceased  to  live.  Impenetrable  to  this  aching  eye 
of  flesh,  the  veil  behind  which  his  glorious  face  is  hidden 
is  a  semi-transparent  veil,  penetrable  to  the  faithful 
spirit  that  longs  to  be  united  with  him  night  and  day. 
So  vivid  and  intense  is  the  image  of  his  presence  some- 
where very  near,  in  the  bosom  of  that  Infinite  Father, 
communion  with  whom  is  my  daily  rest,  that  every 
unsatisfied  aspiration,  shared  with  him,  makes  its 
appeal  to  Keshub,  every  sorrow,  such  as  he  suffered, 
seeks  his  silent  sympathy,  every  trial,  such  as  he  bore, 
waits  for  strength  and  endurance  upon  his  glowing  ex- 
ample. His  influences  suffuse  this  luminous  atmosphere 
of  thought,  goodness,  worship,  wisdom.  The  abound- 
ing spirituality  of  the  Church  of  modern  Hindu  Theism 
is  fragrant  with  the  incense  of  his  pure  profound  life. 
I  have  sometimes  seen  thousands  of  our  Indian  roses, 
beaded  by  the  morning  dew,  light  up  long-stretching 
fields  in  the  gloom  before  day-break.  But  scarcely  did 
the  first  sun-gleam  glance  on  the  fairy  scene,  when  lo 
every  rose  had  disappeared,  gathered  and  hidden  away 
in  the  folds  of  the  reapers'  robes.  Yet  though  the 
flowers  had  changed  places,  their  sweet  aroma  scented 
sky  and  land,  till  the  next  morning's  roses  appeared 
again,  adding  beauty  to  beauty,  and  sweetness  to  sweet- 
ness.      Keshub's  life-scenes  presented   such   a  garden 


vi  PREFACE. 

of  real  romance.  Every  morning  they  were  blooming, 
fragrant,  fresh  ;  his  words,  his  works,  his  prayers,  all 
alike.  Who  that  knew  him,  loved  him,  was  with  him 
to  the  end,  can  deny  the  truth  of  this  ?  Hidden  away 
by  the  hand  of  the  Great  Reaper  in  the  folds  of  the 
Eternal,  Keshubs  influences  permeate  everything  good 
and  pure  both  in  as  well  as  out  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
As  his  life-long  friend  and  follower,  it  has  been  my  at- 
tempt to  gather  these  influences  with  a  reverent  hand 
in  the  following  pages. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  rose  to  his  eminence  from  in- 
sufficient beginnings.  The  germs  of  genius  were  un- 
doubtedly in  him  from  the  earliest  years.  But  the 
circumstances  which  called  forth  his  powers  were  such 
as  happened  to  thousands  of  others  around  him.  As  a 
relative  and  companion,  always  living  only  a  few  feet 
distant  from  his  residence,  I  have,  from  childhood, 
watched  him  in  every  trial  and  incident  of  life.  Far 
from  losing  by  this  constant  familiarity  and  vigilance 
the  accumulated  remembrances  of  decades  have  but 
ceaselessly  added  to  the  wonderful  development  of  his 
life.  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  embodiment  of  a 
great  internal  force.  It  upraised  his  character,  like 
some  stupendous  edifice,  ascending  tier  above  tier,  till 
the  heights  were  lost  in  mystic  communion  with  the 
spirit  of  God.  In  boyhood  it  showed  itself  in  his  in- 
tellect, in  youth  it  lired  him  with  a  fierce  asceticism, 
in  (jarly  manhood  it  took  the  form  of  restless  enthu- 
siasm lor  every  species  of  reform  ;  and  later  on  the 
same   force    converted     itself    into     that    unique    spiri- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

tuality   so   unfamiliar   in   the  present   age.     The  har- 
mony of  these  various  manifestations  of  force  formed 
the  whole  secret  of  his  life.     The  facts  and  laws  of  this 
harmonious    development,    it    is   to   be    wished,    were 
treated  by  other  hands,   by  some  one  who  studied  them 
from  a  greater  distance  than  myself.     Let  us  hope  this 
will   be   in   some   future  day.     But  just  now  his  often 
expressed  wish,  as  well  as  my  own,  forces  that  sacred 
duty  on  me.     A  heavy  sense  of  responsibility  weighs 
upon  me.     How  shall  I  give  expression  to  the  compli- 
cated workings,  the  ceaseless  many-sided  growth,   the 
universal  sweep  of  that  transcendent  spirit  ?     Perhaps 
no  single  individual  can  record  or  count  its  myriad  out- 
goings.    I  have  only  tried  to  utter  what  I  have  long  felt 
and  thought  on  the  subject.     A  sense  of  inadequacy  and 
unfitness  haunts  me  ;    I  can  but  honestly  say  I  have 
tried  to  do  my  best.     Writing  in  a  foreign  tongue,  before 
the  judgment-seat  of  the   present  generation,   and  all 
posterity;    writing  without  any  help  except  that  of  the 
blessed  Indwelling  Spirit,  with  watchful  unfriendly  criti 
cism  alert  on  all  sides,  I  must,  so  far  as  I  may  deserve  it, 
throw  myself  upon  the  protection  of  public  indulgence. 
My  humble  object  has  been  to  describe  my  friend  as  I 
have  always  known  him,  concealing  nothing,  nor  set- 
ting down  aught  in  malice.     How  far  I  have  succeed- 
ed in  this  is  not  for  me  to  say.     Keshub  has  materially 
lightened  my  work  by  delivering,  only  two  years  before 
his   death   a   series   of  fifteen  autobiographic  sermons 
under  the    title    of    Jeevan     Ved    (The    Scriptures    of 
Life).     From  these  as  well  as  from  his  other  writings, 


Vlli  PREFACE. 

1  have  drawn  most  largely.     And  as  he  seldom  said  or 
wrote  anything  that  did   not  indirectly  bear  upon  his 
own  life,  he  has  himself  furnished   the  most  valuable 
materials  of  his  biography.     But  more  than  anything 
else,  I  rely  upon  what  I  have  known,  seen,  and  heard 
in   my   constant    companionship.      His    teachings    on 
various  subjects  are  so  extensive  that   another  big  vo- 
lume would  be  wanted  to  give  them   in  anything  like 
completeness.    I  have  tried  only  to  give  the  barest  sum- 
mary of  what  he  taught  on  the  most  important  subjects, 
dwelling  somewhat  more  fully  upon  his  later  utterances. 
My  duty  would  have  been  most  easy  if  the  enthusiasm 
of  universal  sympathy  which  followed  him  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  brief  career  had  lasted   to   the  end.     But  as 
heavy   mists    in  autumn  suddenly  rise  from  the  deep 
Himalayan  valley,  and    crawling  up  to    the    heavens, 
swallow  the  glories  of  the  mountain  scenery,  so  towards 
his  closing  years,   evil  reports  and  unfavourable  repre- 
sentations  somewhat  dimmed  the   lustre  of  his    great 
name.     The  hand  of  death   has  done  much  to  disperse 
the  gloom,  but  by  some  law    the   mists  show  a   ten- 
dency  to   return  again    and    again.      Time    and   truth 
will  surely  beat  them  back  in  the   end.     If   neverthe- 
less   there  be  some   shadows   still    left   by    the   lights 
upon  the  altitudes   of  that  colossal    character,   his  hu- 
manity shall  be  all  the  more  real  for  that.      Keshub 
Chunder    Sen  never    claimed  to   be  a   messiah,   a  me- 
diator, or  a  prophet.      He    proclaimed   his   sinfulness 
before  vast  assemblies.    But  he  was  unique  in  one  thing. 
He   consistentlv   claimed    to  be  the  Minister  and  the 


PREFACE.  IX 

Leader  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  He  claimed  this  to  be  his 
mission.  He  consistently  professed  to  see  the  face,  and 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Living  God.  Of  course  it  was  only 
as  spirit  can  see  and  hear  the  Spirit.  But  thus  he  dis- 
covered realities,  and  developed  possibilities,  which  no 
other  man  in  his  age  or  generation  had  done.  These  at- 
tainments took  in  his  mind  the  concrete  form  of  a  New 
Religion,  a  New  Dispensation.  That  was  his  message 
to  mankind.  He  latterly  felt  that  his  discovery  was 
in  advance  of  the  times  ;  but  that  he  had  anticipated 
and  prefigured  the  faith  of  the  future  he  had  not  an 
atom  of  doubt.  Time  will  test  the  truth  of  his  fore- 
cast. Amidst  the  endless  activities  of  illustrating  the 
principles  of  this  august  discovery,  his  lamp  went  out 
too  soon.  We,  his  faithful  followers,  devoutly  accept  his 
gospel,  and  hope  by  Divine  grace  to  carry  on  his  work. 
Our  faith  is  firm  that  he  works  and  prays  with  us  from 
the  mansions  of  the  blessed  where  he  has  ascended, 
that  his  hallowed  influences  fill  us  in  our  attempts  to  be 
like  him,  and  that  in  life,  death,  and  eternity,  our  rela- 
tions to  him,  and  to  each  other,  are  inseparable  in 
God. 


CONTENTS. 

Preface  .,,.,!.• v— ix 

INTRODUCTION. 

Keshub:  Chunder  Sen  and  his  times — Educated  men  before  Govern- 
ment Colleges — The  Hindu  College  and  its  first-fruits — The  third  gener- 
ation of  educated  Hindus,  otherwise  called  "  Young  Bengal" — Character  of 
the  English  education  of  the  times  and  its  effects — The  great  education  con- 
troversy— Oriental  learning  undervalued — The  Debating  Clubs — Social  and 
moral  irregularities — Introduction  of  European  luxuries — Flood  of  fashion- 
able vices — Growth  of  unbelief — Christian  Missionaries  and  early  Christian 
converts — The  Brahmo  Somaj  of  the  period — Summary  of  tendencies — The 
leading  traits  of  Keshub's  character  : — Early  enthusiasm — Incessant  activities 
and  reforms — Idea  of  a  Church — Love  of  asceticism — Instinct  of  prayerfulness 
— Singular  faith  and  independence — Result  of  independence — Success 
amidst  difficulties — Shyness  and  meekness — Harmony  of  character — The 
changes  he  effected — Catholicity  of  his  genius, ,         i — 40 

TESTIMONIES  IN  MEMORIAM. 

Memorial  meeting  at  the  Town  Hall — Testimonies  of  the  late  Hon'ble  J. 
Gibbs  ;  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter  ;  the  Hon'ble  H.  S.  Cunningham  ;  Professor  Max 
Miiller — Testimonies  of  the  Press  : — The  Englishman ;  The  Indian  Daily 
News ;  The  Indian  Empire  ;  The  Bengalee  ;  The  Bengal  Public  Opinion  ; 
The  Lucknow  Witness  ;  The  London  Daily  News  : — Testimonies  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Cooke  ;  Herr  Bandmaim  ;  Hon'ble  H.  J.  Reynolds,  ....,,       41 — 59 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  SKETCH  OF  KESHUB'S  ANCESTRAL  VILLAGE  GARIFA— 

THE  SENS  OF  GARIFA, 60—64 

CHAPTER  II. 

KESHUB'S  IMMEDIATE  ANCESTORS. 

Gokul  Chandra  Sen,  Keshub's  great-grandfather — Dewan  Ram  Carnal 
Sen,  Keshub's  grandfather — A  summary  of  his  life — Peary  Mohun  Sen, 
Keshub's  father — Keshub's  mother, 65 — 80 

CHAPTER  III. 

FOREGLEAMS  AND  FORESHADOWS. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as  a  Boy  (1838- 1852) — Our  family  relations — The 
worldly  position  of  the  Sens — Keshub's  early  appearance  and  habits — Re- 
markable early  intelligence — Instance  of  early  application — Boyish  indications 
and  aptitudes — Desire  of  Leadership — Religious  and  moral  tendencies — Re- 
serve and  shyness — Always  true  to  himself,    ,,,,,.,..,,,,.,,,,..       81 — 89 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

ENTHUSIASM  AND  AUSTERITY. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as  a  Young  Man  (1852 — 1859) — Satisfactory 
progress  of  studies — The  establishment  of  the  Metropolitan  College,  and 
Keshub's  removal  there — Irregularity  in  Education— Collapse  of  the  Metro- 
politan and  Keshub's  return  to  the  Hindu  College — Distaste  for  Mathematics 
— Accident  at  the  Senior  Scholarship  Examination — Early  study  of  Philoso- 
phy— Beginnings  of  Asceticism — Marriage  and  austere  ideas — Distaste  for 
domestic  enjoyments — A  contrast  : — Age  of  20  and  age  of  40 — First  prayers 
— Anonymous  exhortations — Early  Christian  associates  and  their  influence — 
Youthful  activities  and  organizations — The  British  India  Society — The 
Colutolah  Evening  School — The  Play  of  Hamlet — The  Goodwill  Fraternity 
— Initiation  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj — Describes  his  own  conversion — Study 
at  Metcalfe  Hall — First  trial  of  faith  and  struggle  with  orthodoxy,       90 — no 

CHAPTER  V. 

MENTAL  AND  MORAL  ACTIVITIES. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  the  Adi  Brahmo  Somaj  (1859 — 1866) — 
Establishment  of  the  Brahmo  School.  Its  character.  Plan  of  lectures — 
The  Bidhava  Bibaha  Natak,  (Widow  Marriage  Drama) — Service  in  the  Bank 
of  Bengal — An  Incident — Renunciation  of  secular  work — The  Tracts — First 
Missionary  Tour — Voyage  to  Ceylon — Famine  relief  operations — Charitable 
activities — The  Sangat  Sabha — The  "Indian  Mirror"  and  the  Calcutta 
College — Survey  of  principles  and  operations — Elected  Minister  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj — Another  instance  of  moral  courage  and  struggle — Founda- 
tion of  Woman's  improvement — Excommunication  and  expulsion — Friend- 
ship between  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  and  Keshub  Chunder  Sen — Long 
illness — Triumph  over  trials — Restored  to  Family — First  child  born,  and 
the  character  of  consequent  festivities — Renewed  controversy  with  Christians 
— Unpopularity  of  early  ministry — Missionary  expedition  to  Madras  and 
Bombay — First  idea  of  a  Brahmo  Somaj  for  all  India — First  signs  of  dis- 
agreement in  the  Brahmo  Somaj — Keshub  and  Devendra  contrasted — Differ- 
ences on  the  subject  of  social  reform — Brahmin  and  non-Brahmin  Ministers 
— The  Secession — Keshub's  attitude  to  the  elder  party — Parting  address  to 
D.  N.  Tagore — The  differing  ideals, , 1 1 1 — 169 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DEVOTIONAL  AND  MISSIONARY  EXCITEMENT. 

Beginning  of  Independent  Career  (1866— 1870) — Foundation  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India — Its  character  and  principles — The  first  Missionaries 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj — The  Mission  Office — First  utterances  on  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  impressions  they  made — Formation  of  Keshub's  first  views  on 
Christ — Lecture  on  Great  Men — Consequent  misunderstanding — Missionary 
tour  in  East  Bengal — Tract  on  True  Faith — Development  of  religious  emo- 
tions and  its  causes — Relations  to  Chaitanya — Vaishnava  piety  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj — The  festival  known  as  Brahmotsab  first  instituted — Foundation- 
stone  of  the  Brahma  Mandir — The  Nagar  Sankirtan  Procession — Missionary 
tour  in  the  Bombay  Presidency— The  Revival  at  Monghyr— Its  character  and 


CONTENTS.  XI  li 

effects — Charge  of  Man-worship — Keshub's  Defence — Beginnings  of  the 
Brahmo  Marriage  Act — Short  visit  to  Simla — "  A  voice  from  the  Hima- 
layas " — Lecture  on  the  Future  Church — The  Opening  of  the  Brahma  Man- 
dir — Declaration  of  its  principles,    1 70 — 20S 

CHAPTER  VII. 

KESHUB  CHUNDER  SEN  IN  ENGLAND  (1870). 

The  sudden  announcement  in  the  "Indian  Mirror" — Keshub's  way 
of  beginning  enterprises — Preparations — Departure  from  Calcutta — Parting 
instructions  about  his  position — Important  principles  of  Church  Govern- 
ment— First  experiences  of  Europe — Reception  at  the  Hanover  Square 
Rooms — Calls  and  Introductions — Various  English  experiences — Meetings 
and  speeches — Great  Celebrity — Lecture  on  England's  Duty  to  India — An 
interval  of  unpopularity — Lecture  on  Christ  and  Christianity — Personal 
habits — Taken  ill  at  Manchester — Kindness  and  hospitality  of  friends — Visit 
to  Bristol — Keshub  and  Miss  Carpenter — Ram  Mohun  Roy's  grave — Visit 
to  Stratford-on-Avon — Unpleasant  experiences— Reply  to  the  Nottingham 
clergy— Reception  by  the  Queen  Empress — Farewell  Soiree — Return  to 
Bombay  and  reception  there— The  Welcome  Home — Personal  friendships  in 
England, ,     209 — 238 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ESTABLISHMENTS  AND  INNOVATIONS. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as  a  Reformer  (1871 — 1875) — Establishment  "of 
the  Indian  Reform  Association — The  "  Sulav  Samachar" — Temperance  re- 
forms and  Female  Education — The  Native  Ladies'  Normal  School — Industrial 
School  for  clerks  and  others — Agitation  on  the  Brahmo  Marriage  Bill — 
Hostilities  to  the  movement — The  liberal  and  modified  character  of  the  Law 
— Its  disadvantage — Minimum  marriageable  age — The  establishment  of  the 
Bharat  Asram — The  development  of  the  idea  of  a  Brahmo  Community — The 
Bharat  Asram  Libel  case — The  foundation  of  the  Albert  College — Popularity 
with  the  Officials — Elements  of  future  secession — Keshub's  attitude  as  a 
Reformer,    239 — 266 

CHAPTER  IX. 

SPIRITUALITIES  AND  CLASSIFICATIONS. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as  a  Devotee  and  Householder  (1875 — 1878) 
— The  equilibrium  of  devotions  and  work — Beginning  of  asceticism  and  a  new 
revival — The  Vairagya  movement — Classification  of  Devotees — The  Sadhan 
Kanan  (Garden  for  Spiritual  Culture) — Arcadian  pursuits — The  foundation 
of  the  Albert  Hall  and  Institute — Keshub's  ideal  of  piety — Character 
of  his  devotions — Faith  in  Prayer — Belief  in  Adesh  or  Inspiration — 
Prayer  and  Dependence — Devotional  language  and  attitude — Realisation  of 
God's  presence — Love  for  the  Himalayas — Various  other  principles — Attrac- 
tion to  Prophets  and  Great  Men — Catholic  sympathies — Character  of  his 
austerities — The  "leaven"  of  his  influence — Love  of  home  and  family -life 
— Change  of  Residence — The  Mangalbari  neighbourhood — Asceticism   and 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

household  life  reconciled — Keshub's  followers  and  fellow-devotees — Organi- 
sation of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  and  its  missionaries — How  he  treated  the  Brahmo 
Missionaries — Their  painful  disagreements — Keshub  as  a  Governor — Last 
cliarge  to  the  Brahmo  Missionaries,    , , , , 267 — 320 

CHAPTER  X. 

TRIALS  AND  PERSECUTIONS. 

The  Cuch  Behar  Marriage  (1878)— The  Maharaja  of  Cuch  Behar 
and  marriage  proposals  on  his  behalf — The  negotiations  completed  by  Govern- 
ment—Protests and  objections  — Conditions  demanded — Assurances  by  Gov- 
ernment—Preliminary  arrangements  settled — First  misgivings— Keshub's  trust 
in  Providence — Cold  reception  at  Cuch  Behar — Serious  difficulties — Com- 
promises proposed  and  rejected— The  scene  of  marriage— The  marriage 
unsatisfactory  to  all  parties— Attempts  at  public  censure — Establishment 
of  the  Sadharan  Samaj— Effects  of  the  marriage  reviewed, 321 — 338 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  NEW  DISPENSATION. 

Its  Purposes,  Doctrines,  and  Ceremonies  (1879 — 1883) — Serious 
illness,  the  result  of  persecutions — The  Idea  of  a  Revival — Divine  Dispen- 
sations defined — Beginnings  of  the  New  Dispensation  announced  as  early  as 
1875 — Motive  in  making  the  announcement  more  definite  now — Purposes  of 
the  New  Dispensation  (1)  An  Apostolical  Religion  (2)  A  National  Religion  (3) 
A  Universal  Religion — The  New  methods — The  Doctrine  of  Inspiration,  or 
Adesh — The  Vernacular  of  his  devotions — Acquaintance  with  Paramhansa 
Ram  Krishna — The  Paramhansa's  teachings — Doctrine  of  Divine  Motherhood 
— The  corrective  of  Christian  influence — The  great  Missionary  Expedition — 
Doctrine  of  Divine  Existence — Doctrine  of  synthesis  and  analysis  in  Divine 
attributes — Doctrine  of  Immortality — Ideas  and  illustrations  of  God-Force — 
The  Doctrine  of  Brahma,  or  the  Logos — The  adoption  of  Hindu  Mythology 
— The  assimilation  of  Hindu  and  Christian  Ideas — Doctrine  of  the  Trinity — 
Christ  and  other  Masters — Keshub  as  a  speaker — As  a  Journalist — Doctrine 
of  Sin — Doctrine  of  Pilgrimages  to  Saints — Doctrine  of  Subjectivity — The 
New  Dispensation  proclaimed — Christian  and  Hindu  ceremonies  adopted — 
Ceremony  of  Apostolic  Ordination — Ceremony  of  sending  out  the  Apostles 
— Vows  of  Poverty  and  Self-surrender — Vows  of  Sisterhood — Great  activities 
— The  Singing  Parties — Keshub's  personal  appearance — Personal  habits — 
Occasional  unpopularity — Causes  of  unpopularity— Self-reliance  and  reserve — 
Apparent  indifference  to  suffering — The  magisterial  spirit — The  effects  of 
authority — Disagreements  among  Brahmo  missionaries — Keshub's  self-esti- 
mate— Innate  lovableness  of  nature — Attitude  towards  women  and  children 
— (treat  knowledge  of  men — Attitude    towards   adversaries — Tactics  of  war 

—  Forgiveness  of  enemies — Loyalty  to  Sovereign — Attitude  towards  political 
agitation — Politics  of  the  New  Dispensation — Dislike  of  Personal  Distinction 

—  Relations  with  Native  Princes — Odd  Fancies — The  New  Dispensation 
Drama— The  New  Dance — Ritualism  Explained — European  and  Asiatic 
1 1  aits— Usefulness  of  Cere  monies, , ,  , , , , , ,0     339 — 4^J 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  LAST  DAYS  (1883— 1884) 

Last  Epistle  and  Lecture — Progress  of  Illness — Ordered  to  Simla — Nava 
Samhita  or  the  Laws  of  Life — Authority  of  the  Nava  Samhita — Relapse 
during  the  rains — Misgiving  and  despondency — Erection  of  the  New  Sanc- 
tuary— Fatal  nature  of  the  illness — Shortcomings  and  Failures  : — Decline  of 
Asceticism,  of  Inspiration,  of  Brotherly  spirit,  and  Harmony  of  character — 
Estimate  of  success — The  practice  of  Yoga,  its  philosophy,  its  analysis,  its 
process — The  Relapse  towards  the  end  of  December — Consecration  of  the 
New  Sanctuary — Keshub's  Last  Prayer — Fearful  sufferings  ;  how  he  bore 
them — Medical  opinions  and  treatment — Consciousness  amidst  stupor  and 
insensibility — The  Last  Moments  and  the  Release — The  after-glow — The 
Funeral  procession  and  ceremonies — Where  the  ashes  rest,   462 — 501 

APPENDIX. 

KESHUB'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

Translations  and  Extracts  from  Jeevan  Ved  (the  Scriptures 
of  Life) — (1)  Prayer  (2)  Sense  of  sin  (3)  Baptism  of  Fire  (Enthusiasm)  (4) 
Habitation  in  wilderness  (Renunciation)  (5)  Independence  (6)  The  Voice  of 
God  (Inspiration)  (7)  Beginning  of  Bhakti  (8)  Shame  and  Fear  (9)  Beginning 
of  Yoga  (10)  The  Wonderful  Arithmetic  (Faith)  (11)  Success  and  Victory 
(12)  Analysis  and  Synthesis  (13)  The  Threefold  Sentiment  (Child,  Madman, 
and  Inebriate)  (14)  Recognition  of  Caste  (Spirit  of  Poverty)  (15)  Discipleship — 


INTRODUCTION. 
KESHUB  CHUNDER  SEN  AND  HIS  TIMES. 

KESHUB  CHUNDER  SEN'S  character,  viewed  in 
'  contrast  with  his  contemporaries  in  Europe  and 
America,  will  not  be  understood.  It  was  formed  amidst 
an  environment  of  an  entirely  different  kind.  His 
greatness  can  be  only  realized  by  contrast  with  the  state 
of  society  in  which  he  was  born.  He  belonged  to  the 
second  generation  of  English-educated  Hindus  in 
Bengal.  The  Hindu  College  was  established  in  1 8 1 7,  but 
the  first  generation  of  English-educated  men  preceded 
the  era  of  colleges  and  schools,  and  consisted  of  such 
characters  as  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  Rajah  Radha- 
kanta  Deb,  and  Keshub's  own  grandfather  Dewan  Ram 
Kamal  Sen.  They  were  sound,  substantial,  self-made 
men,  uncrammed,  untitled,  without  any  mechanical  finish 
about  their  intellectual  outfit ;  but  with  indigenous, 
home-spun  faculties,  definite  religious  impressions,  and 
a  sturdy  backbone  to  their  character.  They  were  few 
numerically,  they  had  struggled  their  way  to  knowledge 
and  distinction  through  enormous  difficulties,  and  their 
influence  was  not  immediately  transmitted  to  their  suc- 
cessors. The  next  generation  of  men  might  be  looked 
upon  as  the  first-fruits  of  English  education  in  the  land. 
They  were  of  a  different  type.  The  very  touch  of  Euro- 
pean knowledge  affected  their  ancestral  orthodoxy,  and 


2  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN'S   TIMES. 

succeeding  batches  of  graduates  came  out  of  the  Hindu 
College,  with  their  idolatrous  faith  completely  bleached 
out   of  them.     The   educationists  of  the  time,  men  like 
Macaulay,  Bentinck,  and  Trevelyan,  congratulated  them- 
selves on  this  result,  they  did  not  perceive   at  the  time 
that  the  loss  of  Hindu  orthodoxy  meant  the  obliteration 
of  every  sense  of  religion.     And  thus  with  their  healthy 
Hindu   intelligence,   sicklied   over  with  a  pale  cast   of 
Western   light,   too   faint   to   guide  them  in  their  path, 
those  young  men   were  unfastened   from   the   safe   an- 
chorage of  social   customs  with  the  authority  of  centu- 
ries of  time-honoured  tradition  at  their  bottom.     They 
drifted   away  yearly  in  great  numbers  to  every  species 
of  radical    doubt,    and   moral    irregularity,    they   were 
emasculated,  giddied,  and  more  or  less   denationalized. 
Enthusiastic  Christian   Missionaries,  official  philanthro- 
pists,  and   immature   ethnic  philosophers   of  all  kinds, 
looked  with  complacence  for  the  approaching  or  actual 
downfall  of  caste  ;  "  idolatry/'  they  said,  "  was  doomed." 
And  so  it  was.     But  no  one  gave  a  moment's  reflection 
to  the  question  whether  the  doom   of  caste  and  idolatry 
would  not  at  the  same   time  be  the  doom  of  the  fine  old 
national   character.     We  have  all  heard  of  the  extra- 
vagances  of  the   race  of  young    Hindu   reformers  that 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Derozio,  the  Eurasian  Byron,   who  led 
our  fathers  and  great  uncles  captive  by  his  erratic  ge- 
nius,   and    nonchalant    self-indulgence.      We  have  all 
heard    of  the    fatherly    philanthropy,   and    reputed    in- 
fidelity of  David  Hare,  the  pioneer  of  English  education 
in     Calcutta.      These    were    the    creators  of  the    first 


CHARACTER   OF  ENGLISH  EDUCATION.  3 

generation  of  educated  Bengalis.  But  the  salt  had  not 
altogether  lost  its  savour,  and  the  first  generation  whose 
prominent  representative  was  perhaps  the  late  Ram 
Gopal  Ghose,  retained  some  trace  of  the  original  vigour 
of  the  Hindu  mind.  But  when  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
turned  out  of  College  in  1 858,  and  we  also  about  the  same 
time,  Hindu  society  in  Bengal  presented  a  chaos.  The 
indications  of  mental  irregularity  to  which  we  have  just 
alluded,  became  pronounced  and  unmistakable.  The 
type  of  character  known  as  "  Young  Bengal,"  to  whom 
Keshub  dedicated  his  first  tract  in  i860,  was  fully  deve- 
loped. Strong  tendencies  of  a  violent  social  transition 
had  set  in.  What  was  known  as  education  comprised 
a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  idioms  of  the  English 
language  made  through  an  uncritical  study  of  the  writ- 
ings of  a  number  of  British  authors,  mostly  belonging 
to  the  previous  centuries.  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  held 
in  a  sort  of  conventional  repute,  were  indeed  extensively 
taught  in  the  schools.  One  great  test  of  superior  edu- 
cation lay  in  the  young  man's  readiness  to  quote  with 
great  show  of  self-importance  from  Hamlet  and  Para- 
dise Lost ;  Johnson's  Rasselas,  and  Rambler  were  read 
with  intense  admiration  ;  Addison's  Spectator  was 
always  the  sine  qua  non  of  good  education  ;  Goldsmith 
was  the  favourite  poet,  and  Pope's  verses  were  learnt  by- 
heart.  Those  who  were  philosophically  inclined,  now 
and  then  studied  Smith's  Moral  Sentiments,  and  some 
even  went  so  far  as  Bacon's  Essays.  Considerable 
value  was  attached  to  English  composition,  and  he  who 
could   fluently  speak   or  write   in   that   language  was 


4  KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN'S   TIMES. 

looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  prodigy.  The  writer  of  a 
newspaper  article  had  great  reputation  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood. Bengali  versification  was  most  abundantly 
practised  on  every  imaginable  subject,  one  or  two  men 
even  attempted  stanzas  of  English  doggerel,  but  most 
people  were  modestly  content  with  as  much  literature  as 
sufficed  for  a  monthly  income  of  fifty  or  a  hundred 
rupees.  There  was  no  enthusiasm  for  any  public  life. 
Perhaps  an  aspirant  after  political  celebrity  delivered  a 
set  speech  at  a  literary  club,  a  great  number  of  which 
began  to  crop  up  in  the  native  quarters  of  Calcutta. 
Perhaps  an  eccentric  character  joined  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  more  for  the  free  eating,  than  the  practice  of  reli- 
gion there.  Perhaps  some  enterprising  youth  would  go 
and  become  a  convert  to  Christianity.  But  as  a  rule, 
education,  except  in  rare  instances,  neither  stimulated 
the  intellect  to  originality,  nor  influenced  the  heart  to 
profound  impulse.  On  the  other  hand  with  increasing 
knowledge  there  was  an  increasing  progress  of  secret 
self-indulgence  ;  scepticism  had  extensively  infected 
the  rising  generation,  and  strict  morality  was  ceasing 
to  have  any  hold  on  Young  Bengal.  Every  one  con- 
versant with  the  history  of  early  education  in  Bengal 
knows  of  the  celebrated  controversy  between  the  advo- 
cates of  Oriental  and  European  learning.  It  terminated 
with  the  famous  decree  of  Lord  William  Bentinck  in 
1835  whereby  the  object  of  the  British  Government  was 
declared  to  be  "  the  promotion  of  European  literature 
and  science  among  the  natives  of  India,  and  that  all  the 
funds   appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  education  would 


ORIENTAL   LEARNING   UNDERVALUED.  5 

be  best  employed  on  English  education  alone."  No 
doubt  the  decision  of  the  British  Government  was  wise 
and  far-seeing.  But  one  very  unsatisfactory  result  of 
the  almost  exclusive  study  of  a  foreign  language,  and 
that  the  language  of  the  dominant  race,  was  the  total 
neglect  of  the  vernaculars  of  the  land.  The  indus- 
trious student  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton  in  the  Hindu 
College  could  scarcely  spell  his  name  in  his  own 
mother-tongue.  The  Anglicists  undoubtedly  overshot 
their  mark  when  Lord  Macaulay,  as  their  mouthpiece, 
declared  with  his  fatal  facility  for  exaggeration,  that  "  a 
single  shelf  of  a  good  European  library  was  worth  the 
whole  native  literature  of  India  and  Arabia."  Sanskrit, 
Persian,  and  Arabic,  held  in  such  supreme  reverence, 
but  a  few  years  before,  as  the  only  source  of  wisdom, 
were  in  consequence  of  such  teachings  looked  upon  with 
unconcealed  contempt.  They  were  barbarous,  unwhole- 
some, unfashionable.  Dr.  Duff  somewhat  thoughtlessly 
characterized  "  the  ocean  of  Oriental  literature "  by 
quoting  Ferdusi's  satire  on  the  Court  of  Ghuzni.  "The 
magnificent  Court  of  Ghuzni  is  a  sea,  and  a  sea  without 
bottom  and  without  shore.  I  have  fished  in  it  long,  but 
have  found  no  pearl."  Our  young  men  took  advantage 
of  his  sage  counsel  by  fishing  for  pearls  in  Scott's 
and  Fielding's  novels,  and  the  wide  unclean  waters  of 
other  inferior  works  of  English  fiction.  For  History, 
especially  for  Indian  history,  they  had  an  unnamable 
horror,  and  as  for  science,  they  had  a  notion,  that 
the  Germans  were  the  people  that  had  something  to  do 
with   that   sort   of  thing.      Englishmen    of  genius    or 


6  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

original  research  who  came  to  the  country,  moved  in  the 
upper  spheres  of  official  and  social  existence,  their 
speculations  and  good-feelings  seldom  percolated 
through  the  race -barriers  into  centres  of  Native  life. 
When  a  philanthropic  scholar  like  Horace  Hayman 
Wilson  took  interest  in  an  intelligent  Hindu  like  Ram 
Kamul  Sen,  the  friendly  relation  produced  the  most 
important  consequences,  but  somehow  or  other  in  the 
subsequent  generations  of  educated  Hindus  in  Cal- 
cutta, either  such  enlightened  Englishmen  ceased  to 
come  out,  or  ceased  to  take  sufficient  interest  in  the 
moral  and  intellectual  welfare  of  their  Native  fellow- 
subjects.  The  result  of  all  this  was  the  rearing  up  of  a 
superficial  race  of  smatterers,  wdio  dealt  in  the  merest 
platitudes  of  the  English  tongue.  In  Keshub's  early  days 
these  men  monopolized  the  title  of  Educated  Hindus. 
But  we  must  not  be  too  severe  upon  our  own  generation. 
Perhaps  even  such  education  was  not  without  its  leven 
for  the  mass  of  society.  Perhaps  what  the  quantity  of 
direct  knowledge  failed  to  do,  the  quality  of  indirect  in- 
fluence, exercised  by  a  superior  nice,  effected.  The 
establishment  of  debating  clubs  in  different  quarters  of 
Calcutta,  dating  from  the  foundation  of  the  Bethune 
Society  in  1851  created  a  great  ferment  amongst  bodies 
of  young  students.  Political  associations,  then  in  their 
embryo,  arose  out  of  such  organizations,  one  or  two  Eng- 
lish newspapers  edited  by  Hindus  began  to  rear  their 
heads,  a  good  many  Bengali  newspapers  kept  the  air 
warm  with  their  perpetual  vilifications  of  each  other. 
Bands  of  young  men,  who  had  lost  their  faith  in  the  ortho- 


SOCIAL   AND   MORAL   IRREGULARITIES.  7 

dox  religion  of  the  land,  met  to  discuss  religion,  and  now 
and  then  assailed  the  superstitious  notions  and  practices 
of  their  older  neighbours  with  truculent  zeal.     All  these 
things  worked  together  to   cause  deep    disturbance  in 
the   huge  mass  of  Native  Society.     Acquaintance  with 
English    authors,    contact   with    European    and    semi- 
European  teachers  inflamed  the  minds  of  our  young  men, 
and   set   them    free   from    the  restraining  influences  of 
wholesome  prejudice.     The  reaction  was  soon  apparent. 
Our  fathers  had  been  for  some  time  mentally  convinced 
of  the    unsoundness    of    orthodox    usages,    their    sons 
wanted  to  cast  aside  altogether  every  restriction,  to  eat 
and  drink,  and  live  as  they  chose.    The  Christian  Mission- 
aries,  the    State  officials,  the  youthful   journalists,    the 
unfledged  reformers  all  united  to  raise  a  war-cry  against 
caste,   and  the   entire  population   of  our   colleges    and 
schools  joined  the  crusade.     It  meant  the  introduction 
of  the  European  luxuries  of  food  and  drink,  the  free-and- 
easy  ways  of  the  West,  the  abolition  of  social  discipline, 
the    exactions    of   Brahman    priests,  and  impecunious 
relatives.     Excessive  indulgence  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors    characterized   the    educated    community ;    con- 
commitant    vices    showed    themselves,    and   premature 
mortality  began  to  rage  amongst  the  rising  generation. 
The  emancipation  of  women  began  to  be  talked  about, 
and  here   and   there  the  doors  of  the  Zenana  were  flunsf 
open.     Men,  before  they  had  learnt  to  honour  the  gentler 
sex,   felt  a  trenchant  desire  to  be   introduced   into  the 
company  of  the   female    relations   of  their  neighbours. 
Third-rate  English   novels  illustrated  the  questionable 


8  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

benefits  of  such  promiscuous  communion.  All  notions 
of  moral  danger  promulgated  by  Hindu  teachers  of 
former  times  were  set  aside  as  old-fashioned  and  per- 
nicious. Impurity  of  character  among  the  educated  be- 
came proverbial  ;  philosophers  of  the  sceptical  and 
Agnostic  school,  scientific  opponents  of  religion  and 
morality,  the  apostles  of  Utilitarianism,  the  materialistic 
professors  of  nescience,  and  so-called  Positivism,  over- 
spread the  land  with  their  teachings.  In  every 
shape,  in  books,  magazines,  newspapers  through  men 
who  filled  public  posts,  and  some  of  whom  even  occu- 
pied chairs  in  our  colleges,  these  teachings  found 
their  way  among  young  men.  The  ancient  scriptures 
of  the  country,  the  famous  records  of  the  spiritual  experi- 
ences of  the  great  men  of  numerous  Hindu  sects,  had 
long  since  been  discredited.  The  Vedas  and  Upanishads 
were  sealed  books.  All  that  we  knew  of  the  immortal 
Mahabharat,  Ramayana,  of  the  Bhagvata,  and  Gita,  was 
from  the  execrable  translations  into  popular  Bengali 
which  no  respectable  young  man  was  supposed  to  read. 
The  whole  religious  literature  of  ancient  India  presented 
an  endless  void.  Our  young  reformers  studied  Payne's 
Age  of  Reason  to  get  fresh  ideas  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  Theodore  Parker  was  just  beginning-  to  be 
known,  and  his  writings  were  valued  more  for  their 
caustic  denunciation  of  orthodox  Christianity,  than  for 
any  positive  inculcation  of  Theism.  For  one  man  who 
came  to  embrace  Christianity,  or  joined  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  ten  expressed  their  wholesale  defiance  of  all 
religion.     While   on   the   other  hand   an   equally  large 


SOCIAL    MORAL    IRREGULARITIES.  9 

number,  for  considerations  of  prudence  and  worldly  gain, 
stuck  to  professions  and  practices  of  ancestral  idolatry, 
without  a  particle  of  real  faith  in  the  observances  which 
they  publicly  held  as  sacred.  Drunkenness  and  de- 
bauchery, of  the  latest  European  fashions,  became  asso- 
ciated with  great  religious  festivals  of  orthodox  Hin- 
duism. English  officials  and  merchants  attended  the 
dances  of  native  courtezans  on  such  occasions.  All  faith 
in  morality  and  religion  every  day  became  weaker,  and 
tended  to  decay.  The  advancing  tide  of  a  very  mixed 
civilization,  with  as  much  evil  as  good  in  it,  the  flood 
of  fashionable  carnality,  threatened  to  carry  everything 
before  it.  Even  amongst  our  limited  circle  of  friends 
and  relatives,  we  often  counted  hopeless  victims  to 
intemperance  and  profligacy.  There  were  some  good 
men,  both  amongst  Europeans  and  Hindus,  who  deplored 
this  strange  transition  from  extreme  stagnation  to  head- 
long self-indulgence.  The  former  were  too  unfamiliar 
with  native  society  to  resist  the  tide,  and  the  latter  were 
too  effete.  The  character  of  the  rising"  generation  of 
Hindus  was  threatened  with  utter  ruin.  The  Christian 
Missionaries  with  Dr.  Alexander  Duff  at  their  head, 
were  no  doubt  energetic  and  philanthropic  men,  why 
did  they  not  step  into  the  breach  ?  They  did  what 
they  could.  They  philosophized,  sermonized,  jour- 
nalized, and  established  schools.  But  their  own  Tri- 
nitarian orthodoxy  was  so  bigoted,  their  teachings 
were  so  intimately  akin  to  the  exploded  farrago  of 
Hindu  dogmatism,  their  intolerance  was  so  excessive, 
so  unsympathetic,  their  denunciations  of  the  national 
2 


IO  KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN  S   TIMES. 

religion  were  so  violent  and  sweeping,  that  as  reli- 
gious men  and  reformers,  they  shared  very  nearly  the 
same  criticism  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  less  en- 
lightened apostles  of  native  faith.  The  Serampore 
Missionaries  introduced  the  printing-press  into  Bengal, 
their  College  was  a  model  institution,  they  translated  the 
Bible  into  the  vernaculars,  they  spread  moral  influences 
around  them,  but  their  influences  were  unduly  circum- 
scribed by  their  theology,  and  could  neither  penetrate 
upwards  to  the  higher  and  lettered  classes,  nor  down- 
wards to  the  humble  and  illiterate  masses.  And  what 
is  worse,  neither  the  Missionaries  nor  their  converts 
showed  any  inclination  to  protest  against  the  tide  of 
corrupt  civilized  self-indulgence,  which  upset  the  charac- 
ter of  the  rising  generation.  One  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  time  characterized  Dr.  Duff's  pupils,  as  well  as 
other  free-and-easy  young  men  of  the  time  as  "  cutting 
their  way  through  ham  and  beef,  and  wading  their  way 
to  liberalism  through  tumblers  of  beer."  The  prince 
of  Hindu  converts,  the  late  Dr.  K.  M.  Banerjea,  a 
little  before  he  was  baptized,  got  with  his  friends  into 
serious  difficulty  through  some  of  these  habits.  "We 
extract  the  passage  from  Mr.  George  Smith's  life  of  Dr. 
Alexander  Duff: — 

"  If  there  be  anything  on  which  a  genuine  Hindu  is 
taught  from  his  earliest  infancy,  to  look  with  absolute 
abhorrence,  it  is  the  flesh  of  the  bovine  species.  If 
there  be  anything  which,  of  itself  singly,  must  at  once 
degrade  a  man  from  his  caste,  it  is  the  known  participa- 
tion   of  that    kind    of    food.      Authentic    instances    are 


THE   BRAHMO    SOMAJ   OF   THE   PERIOD.  II 

recorded,  wherein  a  Brahmin,  violently  seized  by  a  Mos- 
lem, has  had  such  meat  forced  into  his  mouth,  and  though 
deprived  of  voluntary  agency  as  much  as  the  veriest 
automaton,  the  contamination  of  the  touch,  was  held  so 
incapable  of  ablution,  that  the  hapless,  helpless,  unwill- 
ing victim  of  intolerance,  has  been  actually  sunk  along 
with  his  posterity  for  ever  into  the  wretched  condition  of 
outcast.  Well,  in  order  to  furnish  the  most  emphatic 
proof  to  each  other  of  their  mastery  over  prejudice,  and 
of  their  contempt  of  the  ordinances  of  Hinduism,  these 
friends  of  liberty  had  some  pieces  of  roasted  meat,  believ- 
ed to  be  beef,  brought  from  the  bazar  into  the  private 
chamber  of  the  Inquirer  (the  paper  edited  by  K.  M. 
Banerjea).  Having  freely  gratified  their  curiosity  and 
taste  with  the  unlawful  and  unhallowed  food,  some 
portion  still  remained,  which  was  thrown  in  heedless 
and  reckless  levity  into  the  compound,  or  inner  court  of 
the  adjoining  house,  occupied  by  a  holy  Brahmin  amid 
shouts  of  '  There  is  beef!  There  is  beef!'  The  sacer- 
dotal master  of  the  dwelling,  aroused  by  the  ominous 
sound,  and  exasperated  at  the  unpardonable  outrage 
which,  he  soon  found,  had  been  committed  upon  his  feel- 
ings and  his  faith,  instantly  rushed  with  his  domestics  to 
the  quarter  whence  it  proceeded,  and  under  the  influence 
of  rage  and  horror,  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  he 
violently  assaulted  the  Inquirer  and  his  friends."  As 
for  the  Brahmo  Somaj  it  had  not  very  long  ago  emerg- 
ed out  of  its  original  Vedantism,  and  about  the  time  we 
are  speaking  of,  the  internal  conflicts  between  the  leader 
Babu  Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  and  his  colleagues  raged 


12  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S    TIMES. 

so  high  that  they  well  nigh  threatened  the  demolition  of 
the  whole  movement.  The  controversy  was  on  the  funda- 
mental questions  of  Divine  existence  and  attributes.  The 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  the  time  exercised  a  very  inconsidera- 
ble influence  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  the  generation. 
Though  its  creed  being  a  classical  monotheism,  and  the 
founder  being  a  man  of  recognized  genius,  a  good  num- 
ber of  respectable  men  showed  sympathy  for  it,  yet  the 
Hindu  scriptures  with  which  the  Somaj  exclusively  dealt 
at  the  time  were  very  little  studied,  and  the  society  did 
not  at  all  distinguish  itself  by  any  attempt  to  check  the 
fatal  revolutionary  tendencies  before  alluded  to.  It  was 
a  respectable,  intelligent,  obscure  body  whom  the  ortho- 
dox had  ceased  to  regard  with  much  concern,  and  as  a 
social,  moral,  and  spiritual  factor  in  the  community,  it 
counted  for  very  little.  The  orthodox  pointed  the  finger 
of  scorn  at  the  freedom  of  food  and  drink  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj.  For  the  Brahmos,  like  the  rest  of  their  country- 
men, held  latitudinarian  views  on  these  subjects,  though 
in  other  matters  they  were  held  to  be  upright  and  reput- 
able men.  Not  to  speak  of  their  internal  discords,  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  had  to  carry  on  a  double  warfare,  on 
the  one  hand  with  the  aggressive  Christian  Missionaries 
who  wanted  to  argue  them  into  Trinitarianism,  and  on 
the  other  hand  with  the  bigoted  idolatrous  Pandits 
who  incessantly  struggled  to  overthrow  the  movement  of 
Raja  Ram  Alohun  Roy.  No  standards  of  social  reform 
had  yet  been  set  up  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  mem- 
bers weekly  attended  a  semi-vedantic  service,  and  then 
went   home   to    live   like    orthodox    idolatrous  Hindus. 


THE   BRAHMO    SOMAJ   OF   THE    PERIOD.  1 3 

Babu  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  never  directly  joined  any 
idolatrous  observance,  but  at  the  time  of  the  great 
Durga  Pujah  festivals,  left  the  family  house,  and  went 
on  tours.  No  ethical  or  spiritual  developments,  no  com- 
pact fraternal  organizations  had  yet  dawned  upon  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  the  leader  was  barely  able  to  establish 
a  covenant  of  corporate  membership,  an  elementary 
form  of  Theistic  creed,  and  a  promise  of  daily  worship, 
"  unless  disabled  by  disease  or  clanger."  Babu  Deven- 
dra Nath  Tagore  however  strained  his  efforts  to  impart 
to  the  institution  such  cohesion  as  would  suffice  to 
prolong  its  existence  amidst  the  destructive  agencies 
operating  on  all  sides.  The  little  community  had  achiev- 
ed some  eminence  in  the  controversial  literature  of  the 
day,  its  services  towards  the  development  of  the  verna- 
cular of  the  province  were  most  notable,  it  had  started 
on  almost  a  new  footing  some  of  the  scientific  specula- 
tions of  the  West,  and  begun  some  highly  important 
translations  both  from  Sanscrit  and  English.  But  as  a 
social  and  spiritual  force  that  wTould  sway  the  destinies 
of  the  nation,  the  Brahmo  Somaj  did  not  only  not  mani- 
fest, but  did  not  possess  any  indication  of  a  revolu- 
tionary vitality. 

Such  then  is  a  brief  sketch  of  social  conditions 
to  which  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  born.  As  he  grew, 
finished  his  education,  and  entered  into  public  life, 
every  one  of  these  destructive  tendencies  became  more 
pronounced,  and  gained  in  power.  To  sum  up  these 
tendencies  the  social  system  of  caste  had  suffered  all 
but   absolute   disruption   in   Bengal,  the   ascendancy  of 


14  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN'S    TIMES. 

Hinduism  as  a  religion,  was  only  nominal.    Elderly  guar- 
dians,  who  had  in   their  own  early  days,  imbibed  the 
taste  of  the  incoming  civilization,  and  received  the  seeds 
of  social  unsettlement,   had  outwardly  joined  the  ranks 
of  the  conservatives,  and  insisted  on  the  forms  of  ancient 
usage  being  observed  by  their  children.     But  the  young 
men  were  every  day  becoming  more  and  more  loud  in 
their    insubordination   to   domestic   and   sacerdotal   au- 
thority.    The  Brahman  felt  his  day  of  glory  gone.     He 
had  made  endless  concessions,  he  was  still  manufactur- 
ing compromises  to  suit  the  lawless  spirit  of  the  times. 
Intemperate   drinking,    and   licentiousness    of  thought, 
taste,  and  character,  were  fearfully  rampant.     Infidelity, 
indifference  to  religion,    and   point-blank  atheism  were 
unblushingly   professed.      Education  had   degenerated, 
or  never  developed  into  anything  higher  than  a  frivolous 
pursuit  of  rhetoric,  and  dilettantism.     Female  education 
had  just  commenced,  and  men  began  to  talk  of  bringing 
their  wives   out  of  doors.      Just    a  glimpse    of  public 
spirit   loomed  in   some   obscure  literary  society,  or  em- 
bryo political  association,  or  some  essay,  or  speech  of  an 
aspirant   after  cheap    reputation.     The   Christian    Mis- 
sionary now  and  then  unbent  himself,  and  showed  an 
inclination  to  fraternize  with  the  educated  Native.     The 
Brahmo  Somaj  manifested  a  sporadic  anxiety  to  induce 
the  younger  generation  to  join  its   ranks.     Society  was 
ripe  for  further  change  and  development.     Amidst  such 
an    environment   of  pregnant    circumstances,    Keshub 
Chunder  wSen  sprang  into  public  life,  like  a  young  lion, 
full  of  fierce  enthusiasm.     Only  about  two  years  before 


EARLY   ENTHUSIASM.  1 5 

his    death,    he   thus  spoke  of  himself,  "  If  I  ask  thee, 

0  Self,  in  what  creed  wast  thou  baptized  in  early  life  ? 
The  self  answers  in  the  baptism  of  fire.  I  am  a  wor- 
shipper of  the  religion  of  fire,  I  am  partial  to  the  doc- 
trine of  enthusiasm.  To  me  a  state  of  being  on  fire  is 
the  state  of  salvation.  *  My  heart  palpitates  as 
soon  as  I  perceive  any  coldness  in  my  life.  When  the 
body  becomes  cold,  it  is  death,  when  religion  be- 
comes cold,  it  is  death  also.  It  may  take  time  to 
know  whether  I  am  a  sinner  or  not,  but  it  is  easy  to 
know  whether  I  am  alive  or  dead  ;  I  at  once  decide  this 
by  finding  whether  I  a.m  warm  or  cold.  I  live  in  the 
midst  of  fire,  I  love,  embrace,  and  exalt  fire.  Every 
sign  of  heat  fills  me  with  joy,  hope,  zeal.  As  soon  as  I 
feel  the  fire  is  losing  its  heat,  I  feel  as  if  I  would  jump 
into  the  sea,  and  drown  myself.  When  I  find  that  a 
man  after  five  years  of  enthusiasm  is  getting  to  be  luke- 
warm, I  at  once  conclude  he  is  on  the  highway  of  a 
sinful  life,  that  before  long  death  will  tread  on  his  neck. 

1  have  always  felt  a  cold  condition  to  be  a  state  of  im- 
purity. Coldness  and  hell  have  always  been  the  same 
to  my  mind.  Around  my  own  life,  around  the  society 
in  which  I  lived,  I  always  kept  burning  the  flame  of 
enthusiasm.  When  I  succeeded  in  serving  one  body  of 
men,  I  always  sought  another  body  whom  I  might  serve. 
When  I  successfully  worked  in  one  department  of  life, 
I  always  sighed  to  work  in  other  departments  also. 
When  I  gathered  truths  from  one  set  of  scriptures,  I 
have  longed  for  others,  and  before  finishing  these  I 
have  looked  out  for  others  again,  lest  anything  should 


1 6  KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

become  old  or  cold  to  me.  This  is  my  life  that  I  am 
continually  after  new  ideas,  new  acquirements,  and  new 
enjoyments." 

Thus  Keshub's  strivings  were  infinite.  Every  social, 
moral,  religious  want  in  himself,  or  in  others,  appealed 
to  him.  His  ambition  was  to  serve  every  community,  all 
men  and  women.  He  lived  in  the  midst  of  an  inex- 
tinguishable furnace  of  aspiration,  the  heat  of  which  he 
carried  into  everything  he  did.  He  set  fire  to  whatever 
he  touched.  His  reforms  knew  no  end  ;  the  progress  he 
demanded  was  restless  and  ceaseless.  Nothing  declin- 
ed  in  him,  everything  grew.  He  wanted  to  change  the 
very  face  of  the  earth.  His  orations  and  sermons  in- 
flamed vast  assemblies  in  this  as  well  as  other  countries. 
His  devotions  and  prayers  made  great  congregations 
shed  tears  and  sob  like  children.  His  undertakings  drew 
sympathy  from  every  known  and  unexpected  quarter. 
Whatever  he  did,  hundreds,  thousands  of  others  did. 
When  he  walked  in  procession  through  the  streets, 
barefooted  and  bareheaded,  as  a  common  devotee,  hun- 
dreds threw  off  shame  and  fear,  and  joined  him.  Every 
one  naturally  responded  to  him,  every  one  did  his  best 
for  him,  not  a  few  abandoned  all  the  prospects  and 
emoluments  of  life  for  his  sake.  Dozens  of  young  men, 
with  all  the  instincts  of  self-indulgence  fully  developed 
by  the  materializing  tendencies  of  the  times,  turned 
devotees,  mendicants,  and  ascetics,  by  the  power  of 
his  example.  But  nothing  satisfied  Keshub.  He  still 
wanted  more  life,  more  fire,  more  devotedness  ;  he  was 
insatiable  in  the  hunger  of  his   demands  on  himself  and 


INCESSANT   ACTIVITIES   AND   REFORMS.  1 7 

others.     A   strange  fire  consumed  his  being,  and  every- 
one could  feel  it  who  approached  him   in  the  intimate 
relations   of  life.     The  fire  melted  his  innermost  metal, 
and    incessantly  moulded  it  into  fresh   ideals.      These 
ideals  readily  passed  into  various  kinds  of  activities  and 
reforms  which  magnetized  the  whole  land  and  nation. 
The  entire  society  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  was  exceedingly- 
fervid  in  his   time.      His   disciples  were  distinguished 
not  so  much  by  intellect,  as  by  an  ever  active  emotion,  by 
an  intense  enthusiasm,  the  best  impulses  of  their  nature 
kept  always  aglow.  He  developed  ever  new  occupations 
for  them,  he  never  suffered  them  to  take  repose.    Hence 
the  reforms   and  adventures  of  every  description  which 
Keshub    originated    were    innumerable.       They   never 
retained   the   same  outward  shape  or  activity  for  a  long 
time,   and  thus,  perhaps   there   was   an  element  of  im- 
permanence  in  them.      But  the  principles  themselves 
were   everlasting,  and  came  out  in  an  endless  multitude 
of  fresh   conceptions    and   embodiments,    every  one   of 
which    was    alive    with    his    fervid    genius.     Some   of 
these    activities    will    be   described    in    the    following 
pag*es,   it    is   necessary   here  to   indicate   the   main  di- 
rections   which    characterized    them.      Keshub's    chief 
aspiration    was    to   perfect   the    elementary    theism    of 
the    Brahmo    Somaj     into    a  regular  religious   system 
which   should  take   its   place  by  the   side  of  the  great 
religious  dispensations  of  the  world,  and  harmonize  them 
all  into  the  faith  of  the  future.     He  wanted  to  introduce 
into  it  the  utmost  scientific  precision  with  every  possible 
development  of  spirituality.     By  nature  supremely  intel- 
3 


1 8  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TE\rES. 

lectual,  he  was  imbued  with  the  philosophical  spirit  of 
the  age  to  a  degree  which  left  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that 
a  religious  system  with  any  pretension  to  be  universal, 
should  on  no  account  dare  to  trespass  the  limits  and 
conditions  of  human  knowledge.  But  the  horizon  of 
that  knowledge  had  been  in  his  own  case  so  far  enlarg- 
ed by  the  vision  of  a  God-touched  spirit,  of  an  uncom- 
mon wonderful  faith,  that  latterly  he  was  absorbed  in 
the  one  occupation  of  perfecting  the  spiritual  instincts 
of  his  people.  He  felt  sure  the  age  would  furnish  the 
necessary  scientific  culture,  it  was  always  there  ;  but 
him  we  could  not  have  always  ;  and  while  he  was  with 
the  Brahmo  Somaj,  he  wanted  to  lead  it  in  the  unfre- 
quented pathways  of  inspiration  and  faith.  Some  of  his 
methods  have  been  objected  to.  It  would  be  premature, 
were  it  not  needless,  to  defend  mere  methods.  But  when 
the  cloud  of  all  this  ephemeral  misrepresentation  has 
blown  away,  and  motives  are  seen  in  their  true  light,  it 
will  be  easy  to  find  out  that  Keshub  suited  his  plans  to  the 
place,  and  time,  and  people  among  whom  he  lived,  that 
his  genius  was  far  higher  and  greater  than  any  forms, 
methods,  or  means  he  felt  it  necessary  to  adopt  in  order 
to  bring  home  the  truth  of  his  great  doctrine  to  his  fellow- 
men.  In  his  own  heart  God  had  revealed  the  symmetry  of 
a  Dispensation  that  was  absolutely  new  in  its  harmonies, 
new  in  its  force,  spirit,  and  meaning  ;  and  he  laboured,  he 
strained  every  power  and  gift  of  his  nature,  to  establish 
it  outside.  The  principal  means  by  which  he  wished  to 
accomplish  this  work  was  by  founding  a  model  commu- 
nity. He  wanted,  he  incessantly  laboured  to  embody  the 


HIS   IDEA   OF   A   CHURCH.  1 9 

new  religion  in  an  apostolic  community  of  reformed  men 
and  women.  This  he  looked  upon  as  his  highest  work. 
Allusion  has  been  already  made  to  the  magnetism  of  his 
character.  In  very  early  life  he  influenced  his  boyish 
companions  to  a  life  of  unselfish  ends.  When  a  young 
man  he  forced  other  young  men  to  a  life  of  enthusiasm 
and  aspiration.  And  when  he  developed  into  a  religi- 
ous leader,  his  great  aim  was  to  train  up  a  number  of 
devoted  men  and  women  into  the  model  of  a  Divine 
household  and  apostolical  community.  Such  was  his 
idea  of  a  Church.  He  wanted  to  permeate  this  body 
fully  with  his  ideas  ;  he  wanted  to  make  it  entirely  one 
with  himself.  They  were  poor,  simple,  unknown,  but 
he  loved  them  more  than  any  one,  or  anything.  He 
was  never  happy  without  them,  they  were  never  happy 
without  him.  He  was  their  minister,  leader,  their  guar- 
dian, teacher,  and  centre.  They  were  his  apostles, 
disciples,  colleagues,  sympathizers,  supporters,  friends. 
He  tried  to  develop  them  into  a  church,  into  a  neigh- 
bourhood, into  a  happy  family,  into  the  lasting  and 
great  memorial  of  his  work.  Since  his  death  they  have 
shown  signs  of  almost  hopeless  disunion.  If  they  are 
ever  able  to  unite,  as  he  wanted  them  to  unite,  his  spirit 
shall  remain,  his  best  work  shall  last  on  earth.  All  his 
characteristic  teachings  and  foundations  had  their  prac- 
tical reference  to  such  a  body.  The  teachings  shall 
stand  recorded,  and  the  foundations  shall  find  a  place 
in  history,  but  their  real  meaning  shall  be  gone,  if 
Keshub's  apostolic  organization  loses  its  integrity.  He 
tried  to  preserve  that  integrity  by  great  moral  rigour. 


20  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S    TIMES. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  his  character  was  what,  in  spite 
of  repeated  remonstrances,  he  insisted  upon  calling 
"  Asceticism."*  "  When  I  entered  the  world,"  says 
he,  "  it  was  as  if  I  entered  the  graveyard.  God  had 
appointed  that  the  garden  of  pleasure  will  be  unto  me 
like  the  abode  of  death.  The  heavenly  Painter  drew 
the  background  of  my  life  in  the  deepest  black.  Sorrow, 
repentance,  renunciation  formed  the  first  chapter  of  my 
religious  experience.  In  my  eighteenth  year  religious 
impulses  dawned  upon  me,  but  I  had  left  off  eating  all 
animal  food  when  I  was  fourteen.  "When  religious 
feelings  grew  in  me,  and  I  began  to  pray,  the  cloud 
which  at  first  was  no  bigger  than  a  man's  finger  in  the 
sky  of  my  life,  became  very  deep,  so  deep  that  my  face 
partook  of  its  darkness,  and  my  heart  was  full  of  sadness. 
I  had  neither  peace  in  the  daytime,  nor  rest  in  my  bed 
at  night.  To  Pleasure  I  said  '  thou  art  Satan.'  To 
Love  of  the  World  I  said,  '  thou  art  hell,  those  who  touch 
thee  fall  into  the  jaws  of  death/  To  my  body  I  said, 
'  thou  art  the  path  to  perdition,  I  will  conquer  thee.'  " 
This  early  melancholy  of  his  life  has  been  described 
elsewhere.  In  later  life  he  was  most  joyful,  serene, 
loving,  and  universally  loved.  But  often  and  again 
the  old  shadows  returned,  and  enveloped  and  over- 
shadowed his  motives  ;  he  repeatedly  took  shelter  under 
that  primitive  austerity,  he  cultivated  it,  and  embodied 
it  in  his  institutions.  This  he  called  the  doctrine  of 
Asceticism.  To  keep  off  the  approaching  indications  of 
worldliness,  and  love  of  sin  from  his  little  community,  he 

*  Jeevan  Vcd,  Chap.  IV. 


LOVE   OF   ASCETICISM.  21 

sternly  preached  this  doctrine,  he  cooked  his  own  meals, 
and  subsisted  upon  alms  at  intervals,  he  now  and  then 
dressed  like  the  mendicants  and  fakirs.  When  the 
necessity  for  such  practices  ceased,  he  reverted  to  the 
ordinary  ways  of  life  :  but  none  could  fail  to  observe 
that  though  the  practices  were  suspended,  the  principle 
was  always  active  in  his  character.  A  stoical,  self- 
denying  rigour  was  the  backbone  of  Keshub's  religious 
genius  ;  it  was  the  bias  and  direction  of  nature  in  him  ; 
it  was  the  tyranny  of  inherited  tendencies  which  never 
let  go  their  hold  upon  his  temperament.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  amidst  his  apparent  prosperity  during  the 
latter  years,  this  habitual  predominance  of  ascetic  pro- 
fessions and  practices  contributed  not  a  little  to  his 
unpopularity,  nay  that  they  aggravated  his  illness,  and 
hastened  his  death. 

Prayer  to  God  was  another  early  instinct  in  Keshub. 
It  was  entirely  untaught  :  from  the  very  beginning  it  was 
a  spontaneous  impulse.  He  never  saw  any  one  offer 
prayer  to  the  unseen  spirit  God,  his  mother,  or  any  of  his 
friends  never  spoke  to  him  on  the  subject.  He  could  not 
be  very  much  more  than  fifteen  years  when  he  first 
began  to  pray.  But  a  dogged  persistency  in  the  habit 
characterized  him  even  then,  for  he  was  persecuted  for 
it.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  in  the  first  ten  years  of 
his  religious  life  prayer  scarcely  brought  him  any  senti- 
mental consolation,  though  no  doubt  it  strengthened  him 
morally.  But  nevertheless  he  prayed  regularly,  inces- 
santly, mechanically  against  the  promptings  of  the  world. 
"  The  first  lesson  of  the  scriptures  of  my  life,"   says  he 


22  KESHUB    CHUXDER    SEX'S   TIMES. 

"  is  prayer.     Xo  one  helped  me  then  ;   and  I  had  not  en- 
tered any  religious  society  ;  I  had  not  decided  what  faith 
to  adopt.*     Xeither  any  devotee,  nor  any  community  of 
worshippers  associated  with  me  then,  but  in  that  morn- 
ing of  spiritual  life,   the  voice  always   sounded  in  my 
ears,     *  Pray !    Pray !      There    is    no    other   way    than 
prayer/      I  never  knew  why   and   for    what   I    should 
pray,   that  was   not  the  time  to  reason,  there  was  none 
whom  I  could  ask,  nor  did  any  one   advise  me  to   offer 
prayers.     It  never  once   occurred  to  me  that  I  might  be 
mistaken  in  my  impulse.     '  Offer  prayers,  thou  shalt  be 
saved,   thy  character   shall   change,  all  thy  wants  shall 
be  removed ' — this  promise  sounded  from  the  east  and 
west   of  my  life,  from  the  north  and  the  south.    I  knew 
only   One,   with   One   only  I   conversed,  I  had  no  other 
friend.     I  looked   up   to  the  sky,  but  heard  of  no  divine 
dispensation,  no  gospel  of  any  known   religion   reached 
me.     I  never  took  thought  whether  I  should  repair  to  the 
Christian  Church,  to  the  Mahomedan  Masjid,  or  the  Hin- 
du Devalaya.     From  the  first  I  had  recourse  to  that  sup- 
plication before  God  which  is  greater  than  Veda,  or  Ve- 
danta,  Koran  or  Puran.  I  offered  one  prayer  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  one  in  the  evening,  both  of  which  I  had  written 
out.     All  that  was  dark  before  began  to  clear  up,  objects 
around  were  distinctly  seen,  and  by  the  practice  of  prayer 
I  gained  an  endless,  resistless  strength,  the  strength  of  a 
lion."     Here   then   is  a  reality  of  religious  life  that  can- 
not be  put  away.     Here  is  the  example  of  a   man  who, 
from  the  small  beginnings  of  a   simple   natural   prayer- 

*  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap.  I. 


INSTINCT   OF   PRAYERFULNESS.  23 

fulness,  gradually  found  in  himself  the  growth  of  a 
spiritual  life,  whose  magnitude  has  overshadowed  the 
whole  land,  if  not  the  whole  world.  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  bears  the  grand  testimony  of  undoubted  heroism, 
and  the  loftiest  harmonies  of  soul,  all  attained  by  the 
easy  accessible  means  of  earnest  prayer  before  the  God 
of  love.  Everything  great  or  good  which  he  achieved, 
he  ascribes  directly  or  indirectly  to  prayer.  The  history 
of  the  development  of  his  spirituality  is  therefore  a  study 
of  unsurpassed  interest.  It  is  the  corner-stone  of  his 
whole  system  of  religion,  the  whole  fabric  of  his  bene- 
ficent activity.  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  life  has  produced 
one  great  result,  it  is  this.  He  has  undoubtedly  taught 
a  number  of  men  the  reality  of  daily  intercourse  with 
the  Spirit  of  God.  The  formless  essence  of  the  Divine 
being  and  attributes  he  has  embodied  in  a  living  heart- 
felt worship  which  has  truly  regenerated  some  men. 
The  invisible  God  he  has  made  visible  to  his  disciples. 
If  other  works  which  he  tried  to  accomplish  fail,  this 
shall  remain  as  the  stateliest  memorial  to  his  character 
as  a  God-sent  Minister  and  Apostle  of  mankind. 

Such  characteristic  spiritual  culture,  it  need  scarcely 
be  said,  presupposed  a  large  capacity  of  faith,  and 
Keshub' s  faith  constituted  another  singular  feature  of 
his  mind.  Faith  dominated  within  him  to  a  degree 
which  sometimes  caused  his  reason  to  be  called  into 
question.  "  If  any  one,"  he  says,  "  hears  a  voice  that  is 
not  his  own,  it  may  be  called  a  spirit-voice,  or  a  ghost. 
From  the  beginning  of  my  religious  life  many  times  have 
I  heard  this  voice  both  within  my  heart  and  outside,  yet 


24  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN'S   TIMES. 

I  have  never  held  it  to  be  ghostly  or  supernatural."  On 
every  emergency  of  life,  whenever  he  needed  it,  he  be- 
lieved he  heard  this  voice.  "  Whenever,  and  as  often  as  I 
have  heard  the  voice  of  this  unseen  living  Person,  I  have 
known  it  not  to  be  the  voice  of  any  friend,  of  mother, 
father,  wife,  nor  of  my  own  self,  not  to  be  the  teaching  of 
any  book,  nor  a  past  experience  flashing  suddenly  in  the 
light  of  memory,  nor  the  painted  delusion  of  a  god- 
dess of  fancy.*  But  God  has  Himself  spoken  to  me 
either  to  leave  some  favourite  sin,  or  to  begin  some  good 
and  holy  undertaking,  to  destroy  some  evil,  or  take  up 
arms  against  some  pernicious  usage,  and  I  have  always 
done  so.  I  have  reasoned,  struggled,  and  taken  means 
to  silence  this  voice,  but  I  could  not.  I  have  a  soul, 
and  I  have  certain  sentiments  in  it ;  God  too  has 
the  same.  I  have  certain  resolves ;  He  too  has  His 
resolves.  One  is  the  creature  soul,  the  other  is  the 
Supreme  Soul.  The  two  are  separate.  To  the  sub- 
stantive soul,  two  adjectives  are  applied — creature  and 
supreme.  The  creature-soul  speaks  in  the  man,  the 
Supreme  Soul  speaks  in  the  soul.  To  distinguish  the 
two  personalities  is  to  many  a  matter  of  much  difficult 
culture."  To  illustrate  this  he  says  in  another  chapter  of 
Jccvau  Vcd,  "  Never  be  anxious  before  you  begin  an 
undertaking,  never  be  anxious  after  you  have  commen- 
ced it.  Never  be  anxious  before  or  after,  or  in  the 
middle.  Do  not  give  way  to  anxiety  at  any  time.  Act 
under  the  word  of  God,  and  never  be  anxious."  "  When- 
ever I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  build   a  house,   I   at  once 

*  Jccvan  Ved,  Chap.  VI. 


SINGULAR  FAITH,    AND  INDEPENDENCE.  25 

began  to  build.*  The  walls  rose  up  to  the  sky,  the 
construction  was  finished,  the  pictures  were  put  up,  and 
then  last  of  all  I  began  to  lay  the  foundations  (that  is, 
provided  the  expenses).  Have  I  got  to  give  a  daughter 
in  marriage  ?  The  date  is  fixed.  At  the  right  moment 
the  marriage  takes  place.  There  is  no  hitch.  But  at 
the  set  out  there  was  neither  the  necessary  money,  nor 
the  person  known  to  whom  the  daughter  was  to  be 
given ;  both  came  in  due  time  ;  and  the  servant  of  God 
was  enabled  to  do  his  appointed  duty."  This  strange 
unfamiliar  motive,  always  disguised  under  the  most 
impenetrable  reserve,  broke  out  again  and  again  in  the 
details  of  domestic  and  personal  conduct  in  ways  that 
gave  an  appearance  of  provoking  eccentricity  to  much 
that  he  did.  No  one  could  form  any  reliable  anticipation 
as  to  how  Keshub  would  act  under  critical  circumstances, 
nay,  nor  could  Keshub  himself  make  any  such  forecast 
before  the  trial  came.  When  it  did  come,  his  strong 
unwavering  faith  decided  the  whole  question,  and  then 
neither  violence,  nor  flattery,  neither  reasoning,  nor 
danger  could  move  him  by  a  hair-breadth.  He  took  a 
long  time  to  ascertain  the  right  course  of  conduct,  he 
waited  patiently,  he  listened  with  his  ear  to  the  heart,  he 
was  always  sure  the  right  decision  would  come.  And 
when  he  felt  it  came,  he  lost  no  time  to  act  upon  it  with 
fierce  and  fanatic  enthusiasm.  Interpreted  by  this  prin- 
ciple, many  of  his  most  incomprehensible  acts  become  as 
clear  as  noonday.  Criticism  is  disarmed  before  a  man 
of  such  unique  faith,  and  the  most  unreflecting  feel  an 

*  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap.  X. 
4 


26  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SENS   TIMES. 

instinctive  fear  to  pronounce  hasty  judgments  upon  his 
conduct.  He  fully  expected  his  motives  would  be  mis- 
apprehended, and  he  thus  speaks  about  it.  "  Whenever 
it  is  felt  that  a  certain  course  of  conduct  would  be 
praised  by  all  men,  the  devotee  at  once  suspects  there 
must  be  something  wrong  in  it.  Whenever  it  is  felt  that 
a  certain  other  kind  of  conduct  would  be  repudiated  by 
all,  would  invite  indignity,  would  cause  separation  even 
from  friends,  would  weaken  the  body,  injure  the  mind, 
whenever  all  this  is  felt,  the  spirit  at  once  decides  that 
to  be  the  right  course  of  conduct.5'*  The  fact  is  Keshub 
put  exceedingly  little  importance  upon  men's  opinions. 
He  was  very  conciliating,  he  was  very  mild,  but  he 
never  submitted  to  human  guidance  ;  when  opposed, 
he  was  immovable  as  a  rock.  Keshub  had  the  indepen- 
dence of  a  hero.  He  had  a  profound  scorn  to  be 
subjected  to  any  man,  or  to  any  institution.  "  God  has 
implanted  in  my  heart  great  hatred  against  subjection. 
Subjection  to  man  is  sin,  it  is  the  source  of  all  evil,  it 
is  enmity  to  God.  I  never  reflected  on  the  consequences 
of  this  principle  but  at  once  accepted  it  in  the  begin- 
ning.! I  have  suffered  a  great  deal  on  account  of  it,  but 
I  have  never  left  it.  Men  say,  follow  your  preceptor. 
I  have  felt  afraid  to  do  so.  To  follow  parents,  or  friends, 
or  those  related  in  the  bonds  of  religious  fellowship, 
there  is  the  same  fear  against  it  all.  Even  those  who 
are  peculiarly  intimate  with  me,  who  aid  me  in  every 
good  work,  and  are  active  in  my  cause,  do  not  find  me 

*  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap.  X.  t  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap.  V. 


RESULT  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  27 

subservient.  I  will  never  be  enslaved  by  the  love  of 
any  friend."  To  one  thing  did  he  profess  and  practice 
subjection,  that  was  the  will  of  the  Supreme  Soul  whose 
voice  he  believed  he  constantly  heard  in  his  own  soul. 
The  distinctions  between  the  creature  will  and  the 
Supreme  Will  have  puzzled  theologians  and  devotees  in 
all  ages.  The  subject  was  to  Keshub,  like  so  many  other 
subjects,  not  a  matter  of  culture,  but  of  perception.  He 
had  some  secret  instinct  by  which  he  discovered  the  de- 
liverance of  the  Spirit,  and  he  never  wavered  to  carry  it 
out.  The  influence,  that  is  to  say,  the  imitation  of  such 
a  principle  led  to  the  growth  of  a  spirit  of  independence 
among  his  followers  which  was  fatal  to  every  kind  of 
corporate  organization.  The  men  could  never  be 
brought  to  loyal  subordination  to  each  other  in  any 
work  which  required  the  surrender  of  self-will.  No 
department  of  the  various  reforms  inaugurated  by 
Keshub,  in  which  the  independence  of  the  individual 
workers  was  interfered  with,  could  flourish.  He  noticed 
this  unexpected  difficulty,  and  deplored  it  repeatedly. 
He  made  various  attempts,  held  numberless  conferences 
to  remedy  it,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Now  in  his  absence 
it  has  well  nigh  exterminated  his  work,  and  is  making 
an  incessant  havoc  upon  every  organization  he  has  left 
behind.  During  his  latter  years  he  must  have  apprehend- 
ed what  is  now  taking  place.  He  says,  "  If  I  fail  to  per- 
petuate any  organization,  if  I  do  not  retain  a  single 
follower,  I  will  submit  to  that  rather  than  make  any 
man  my  slave,  seeing  that  I  am  slave  to  none.  If  there 
are  fifty  different  men  in  my  community,  they  are  of  fifty 


2  8  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SENS   TIMES. 

different  minds.       Truth    is   my   witness,    the   sun  and 
moon   are  my  witnesses,   there  is  no  subjection  in  my 
society,    every    man    who    has  joined   me   is   his   own 
master.     Every  one  will  have  to  acknowledge  this  while 
I  am  here,   every  one  will  have  to  acknowledge  this 
when  I  am  gone.     I  have  asked  no  man  to  accept  any  one 
as  his  guru  (guide)  or  governor.     I  know  God  to  be  the 
only  Guide  and  Governor."     Such  a  doctrine  reduced  to 
practical  results  would  be  the  direct  inspiration  of  every 
individual,    and   the  whole  community,  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.     That  was  in  short  the  idea  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
had  of  an  apostolical  organization.     As  far  as  possible 
he  worked  his  church  on  this  principle.     It  is  fortunate 
that   what   was    known   as   his  inspiration   was  gener- 
ally accepted  by  his  immediate  followers  to  be  the  will 
of  God,  at  all  events  they  acquiesced  in  it.     But  Keshub 
did  not  necessarily  accept  what  they  claimed  as  their 
inspiration,   nor  did  the  followers  recognize  each  other's 
inspiration.     So  long  as   Keshub  was  alive,   the   seeds 
of  these   differences,    though  they  often  grew,   did  not 
theaten   a  crisis.      As   soon   as   he  was  removed,  they 
broke  out   in  a  form  subversive  of  all  good   feeling,  and 
all  mutual  relationship.     How  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
that  was  explosive  and  dangerous  Keshub  worked  for 
nineteen  years  is   a  mystery,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
all  the   independence  and  waywardness  in   his  disciples 
only  contributed   to   his  wonderful   success.     "  I  see," 
says  he,  "  that   everything  I  wanted  whether  in  regard 
to  myself,  or  in  regard  to  the  country,  or  the  world  and 
mankind  at  large,  was  given  me.     What  it  took  other 


SUCCESS   AMIDST  DIFFICULTIES.  2  0. 

men  to  wait  for  very  long,  so  that  their  body  and  mind 
were  spent  in  the  waiting,  we  have  obtained  by  our 
ordinary  efforts,   and  ordinary  strength.     I  have  often 
heard  it  said  there  are  great  delays  before  we  get  results, 
sometimes  we  never  get  them.     We  reap  our  harvests 
in  the  future  world,  here  we  only  sow  seeds.     But  I  see 
now  it  takes  five  years  to  accomplish  the  work  of  twenty- 
five  years,   it  takes  only  an  hour  to  do  what  used  to  be 
done  in    twenty-four.     The  tree  that    used  to  bear  its 
fruits  in  many  years'  time,  is  now  fruitful  in  a  very  short 
interval.      In  the  name  of  God  our  work  commenced, 
before  two  years  were  over,  the  results  were  great,  vast 
numbers  of  men  came.     What  was   there  twenty-five 
years  ago,   what  is  there  to-day,  who  knew,  who  ever 
imagined  this  to  be  possible !     Between  religion  and 
religion  what  conflicts  were  there  before ;  how  great  the 
inclinations  of  men  to  sin ;  how  feeble  was  the  religion 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  how  great  the  want  of  love  to  God 
and  man ;  how  deep  the  absence  of  enthusiasm  among 
the  weak  inhabitants  of  Bengal.     After  the  continued 
labour  often  or  twenty  years  the  preservation  and  propa- 
gation   of    truth   became    quite    practicable.      In   that 
country  where  many  noble  achievements  are  turned  into 
dust,  behold  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  is  trans- 
formed into  the  New  Dispensation.     There  has  not  been 
a  year  without  progress.  There  has  not  been  a  month,  or 
a  week,  or  a  day  when  God  has  slumbered  in  our  midst. 
What  undertaking  was  there  in  relation   to  the  New 
Dispensation  which  has  not  been  crowned  with  success  ? 
What  act  has  not  brought  forth  its  fruit  ?     Great  works 


30  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN'S    TIMES. 

have  been  established  ;  small  works  which  were  begun 
in  the  name  of  God,  have  also  become  successful.  Now 
I  can  look  up  to  the  Sun  of  truth,  thrust  my  arm 
into  the  fire  of  truth,  and  declare  that  what  I  wanted  to 
obtain  I  have  obtained,  what  I  wanted  to  see  I  have 
beheld."*  It  may  be  said  by  Keshub's  critics  that  this 
success  was  a  personal  success,  and  lasted  only  during 
his  lifetime.  But  no  one  can  deny  that  amidst  very 
serious  difficulties  he  demonstrated  the  possibility  of 
such  success.  Men  of  his  greatness  come  to  the  world  to 
point  out  possibilities  which  it  takes  generations  to  make 
actual. 

A  striking  back-ground  to  these  brilliant  qualities  is 
presented  by  the  singular  modesty  of  Keshub's  charac- 
ter. No  less  than  four  chapters  out  of  the  fifteen  that 
compose  the  beautiful  autobiography  from  which  we 
have  been  quoting,  elucidate  one  side  or  another  of  this 
characteristic  virtue  of  meekness.  Every  one  who  knew 
him  even  casually  must  bear  testimony  that  he  was  the 
opposite  of  a  bold,  pushing",  self-confident  man.  His 
enthusiasm,  his  activities,  the  power  of  his  faith  and 
devotions,  the  sense  of  his  great  mission,  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  pre-eminent  position  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
made  him  fearless.  But  outside  the  limits  of  his  inspira- 
tion, thrown  back  upon  his  own  nature,  he  was  shy,  back- 
ward, diffident,  timid,  full  of  the  sense  of  his  personal 
unworthiness.  He  not  only  acknowledged  the  superior 
gifts  and  position  of  other  men,  but,  incredible  as  it 
may   seem,   hesitated   to    approach    them    even    as    an 

*  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap    XI. 


SHYNESS   AND   MEEKNESS.  3 1 

equal.  Always  calm  and  self-possessed,  within  the 
depth  of  his  majestic  presence,  underneath  the  shadow 
of  his  colossal  reputation,  he  carefully  concealed  this 
maiden-like  modesty,  so  that  few,  but  the  closest 
observers,  could  detect  it.  But  at  home,  among  his 
intimate  companions,  he  never  tired  of  expressing  his 
dread  of  the  rich  and  learned,  of  the  officials  and  aristo- 
crats, and  his  relief  when  delivered  from  their  company. 
He  said  he  had  on  such  occasions  to  go  through  a  scene 
of  solemn  hypocrisy,  keeping  up  a  dignified  exterior 
spread  over  a  palpitating  heart.  He  speaks  about 
it  with  the  simplest  candour.  "  This  life  has  been  en- 
slaved to  fear  and  shame  for  a  long  time.  I  have  not 
willingly  or  with  pleasure  welcomed  such  fear  and 
shame  as  my  masters.  I  know  they  are  inimical  to  the 
character  of  good  and  pious  men.  But  whether  it  be 
for  want  of  religious  culture,  or  whether  it  be  owing  to 
natural  weakness,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  rid  of 
the  shame  and  fear  of  men.  God  has  driven  such  feel- 
ings out  of  the  ground  of  religion  in  my  case,  but  suffered 
them  to  remain  in  the  ground  of  the  world.  When  I 
find  a  company  of  very  learned  men,  I  do  not  feel  the 
confidence  to  enter  there.  My  mind  says  this  is  a  place 
to  honour  the  wise  and  erudite,  you  have  no  right  to 
enter  here.  And  a  similar  feeling  gets  possession  of 
me  when  I  am  in  the  company  of  the  wealthy  or  the 
distinguished.  My  difficulty  is  to  approach  men  of 
three  classes,  the  wealthy,  the  famous,  and  the  learned. 
It  is  only  because  duty  compels  that  I  venture  to  go 
at  all,  it  is  because  duty  compels  that  I  venture  to  make 


3 1  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN'S   TIMES. 

speeches  before  them.  In  foreign  lands,  or  at  home, 
when  I  am  alone,  I  feel  helpless  and  unprotected.  My 
heart  says  such  a  man  as  I,  ought  never  to  be  alone."* 
A  whole  chapter,  the  fourteenth,  in  the  Jeevan  Ved  is 
devoted  to  what  Keshub  calls  the  recognition  of  his  caste. 
"  O  my  soul,"  he  asks,  "  what  is  thy  caste  ?  Art  thou  the 
child  of  the  rich  or  the  poor,  coming  from  the  line  of  the 
opulent,  or  the  humble  r  After  much  investigation,  after 
twenty-five  years  of  close  thought  I  conclude  that  my 
feelings,  tastes,  and  motives,  that  my  blood  and  brains 
all  belong  to  the  order  of  the  poor.  My  daily  habits 
bear  abundant  testimony  to  that  poverty.  After  being 
tried  in  many  tribunals  (of  self-examination)  I  have 
come  to  recognize  myself  as  one  of  the  poor.  I  was 
reared  by  a  wealthy  father  and  grandfather,  I  was 
surrounded  by  comfort  and  luxury  of  every  kind,  but  as 
I  grew  up  in  years  the  signs  of  natural  poverty  began 
to  show  themselves  in  my  character.  Very  simple  food 
yields  me  satisfaction,  I  love  simple  rice  and  herbs.  If 
I  have  to  travel  by  railway,  I  like  to  go  into  the  third 
class.  Wherever  I  find  poverty  I  find  rest,  and  the 
full  security  of  life.  I  have  not  learnt  this  poverty  by 
any  effort,  it  has  found  its  way  into  my  character  by 
natural  laws.  Whether  men  understand  it  or  not,  I  have 
understood  it  aright  that  my  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  the 
poor,  and  my  body  is  the  body  of  the  humble."  It  was 
indeed  difficult  for  men  to  understand  this.  Keshub's 
true  character  was  so  overlaid  with  the  brilliance  and 
predominance  of  genius;  outward  circumstances  of  ease 

*  Jeevan  Ved,  Chap.  V1I1. 


HARMONY   OF   CHARACTER.  33 

and  honour  so  disguised  it ;  a  lofty  estimate  of  his 
mission  and  place  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  a  natural  and 
deliberate  reticence  so  overshadowed  it,  that  few  men 
could  recognize  his  "  caste  of  poverty/'  Now  that  he 
himself  has  made  the  avowal,  those  who  knew  him  best, 
will  at  once  recognize  in  his  saying  some  of  their  pro- 
foundest  experiences  of  his  ways.  Undoubtedly  Keshub 
had  great  native  refinement,  he  had  a  due  regard  of  his 
position  as  the  leader  of  a  powerful  movement,  of  the 
position  also  of  his  family,  of  his  relations  with  the 
civilized  European  and  Hindu  community  around,  nor 
was  he  wanting  in  a  high  self-consciousness  of  which 
enough  has  been  said  elsewhere.  His  sense  of  poverty 
never  interfered  with  all  that,  but  it  secretly  moulded 
and  perfected  that  personal  character  which  presented 
to  his  followers  such  a  model  of  moral  and  spiritual 
fulness.  It  produced  that  beauty,  sweetness,  reason- 
ableness, imitableness,  in  which  the  simplest  and 
humblest  of  mankind  beheld  their  own  kindred.  It 
presented  that  agreeable  contrast  of  virtues,  that  recon- 
ciliation of  opposite  attainments,  that  strong  light  and 
deep  shade  which  the  true  leaders  of  mankind  possess. 
Some  men  see  one  phase,  some  men  see  another  phase 
of  such  many-sided  characters,  and  there  is  much  blind 
controversy  among  the  successors  of  the  great  man. 
An  occasional  glimpse  of  the  completeness  of  his  charac- 
ter, however,  cures  the  deficiency  of  vision,  and  gives 
rest  to  the  heart. 

The   desire    of  harmony   became    a   positive  passion 
with  Keshub  towards  his  latter  years.     This  was  the  rul- 

5 


34  KESIIUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

ing  principle  of  his  religious  character,  this  was  the  rul- 
ing principle  of  the  New  Dispensation.  It  was  the  secret 
of  all  his  endeavours,  all  his  developments,  apparently 
so  incoherent.  He  could  never  be  contented,  he  judged 
it  a  positive  sin  to  possess  only  one  side,  and  pass  by 
other  sides  of  human  perfection.  In  his  heart  he  re- 
conciled all  religions,  all  prophets,  all  scriptures,  all  dis- 
ciplines. The  creed  of  the  New  Dispensation  was  only 
the  outer  emblem  of  his  inner  attainment.  He  aimed 
at,  and  struggled  for  the  wholeness  of  spirituality. 
"  I  am  continually  advancing  towards  prefection,"  says 
he.  "  I  have  left  sectional  religion,  my  heart  has 
yearned  to  go  towards  perfection.  I  cannot  confine 
myself  within  partial  progress.  For  the  good  of  our 
mother-land,  the  New  Dispensation,  which  God  has 
vouchsafed,  means  the  fulness  of  harmony.  For  a  long 
time  have  I  wished  to  do  away  with  fragmentary  piety. 
God  is  the  perfection  of  all  attributes.  His  love  is 
infinite  harmony.  His  passionlessness  and  his  joy  are 
equally  perfect.  Not  so  my  own  character.  When  my 
asceticism  increases,  my  joy  becomes  comparatively 
less.  I  see  God  more  in  one  thing  than  in  another, 
more  in  one  part  of  creation  than  in  another,  more  in 
the  saint  than  in  the  sinner.  You  want  to  enjoy  the 
love  of  God  which  Chaitanya  preached,  but  cannot  be 
happy  with  the  holiness  of  Christ  Jesus.  You  can  give 
place  in  your  heart  to  Gauranga,  but  cannot  feel  the 
same  honour  for  Gautama,  or  perhaps  you  feel  disinclined 
to  give  due  recognition  to  the  Aryan  Rishis  and  Munis 
of  ancient  India.     Such  sectional  religion  can  no  longer 


HARMONY   OF   CHARACTER.  35 

satisfy  me.  Detached  sentiments  I  indulged  in  at 
former  times,  but  I  have  now  tied  up  a  great  nosegay 
of  all  truths  in  my  soul.  I  have  repentance  one  day, 
and  good  work  on  another  ;  to  day  asceticism,  to  morrow 
joy ;  to  day  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  to  morrow  the 
wisdom  of  age.  Jesus,  Moses,  and  all  the  prophets 
reign  in  my  heart  hand  in  hand.  He  who  has  always 
been  at  the  root  of  my  being,  has  strung  together  all 
the  jewels,  and  hung  around  my  neck  the  precious  neck- 
lace. At  one  moment  I  enjoy  the  beauty  of  this  world, 
at  the  next  moment  the  beauty  of  heaven.  Heaven  and 
earth  have  become  one  to  me.  All  the  musical  instru- 
ments strike  together  one  celestial  harmony.  Now  we 
want  perfection."* 

Thus  Keshub's  life  was  like  an  unfathomable  music. 
Its  many-voiced  sweetness,  its  stupendous  reality,  its 
harmony  of  a  hundred  ideals,  its  ever-growing  height 
and  depth,  had  the  gift  of  infinity  in  them.  A  negative 
infinite  always  moved  his  scorn.  He  held,  worshipped, 
and  taught  the  Infinite  Positive.  The  soul  of  prophecy 
and  poetry  both  was  in  him.  He  could  not  only  behold, 
but  he  could  utter,  and  though  his  utterance  was  in- 
adequate to  express  his  vision,  yet  it  went  forth  as  a 
song,  as  a  glory,  as  an  unnamable  influence,  deep  into 
every  soul,  deep  calling  unto  deep.  His  life  had  the 
heavenly  magic  of  making  the  true  beautiful,  and  the 
beautiful  true.  Both  the  truth  and  the  beauty  lay  in 
his  goodness.  He  was  completely  good,  good  in  every 
relation,  strong  in  his  goodness,  fearless   and  confident 

*  Jeevan  Ved;  Chap.  XII. 


36  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

like  a  child,  never  vain  in  his  success,  never  downcast 
in  his  failures.  All  religions  found  in  him  their  con- 
genial elements,  all  scriptures  their  expounder,  all 
prophets  their  disciple.  It  seemed  as  if  he  could  speak 
the  language  of  a  hundred  spheres,  and  partake  of  the 
sacraments  of  a  hundred  communions.  Every  descrip- 
tion of  devotee  found  in  him  a  fellow-devotee,  Hindus, 
Moslems,  and  Christians  alike.  Every  sinner,  every 
sorrow-stricken  soul  found  in  him  the  curing  consola- 
tion that  comes  of  kindred  experience.  The  joyful  found 
in  him  abundant  perennial  joyfulness,  the  pure-minded 
came  from  him  with  a  brighter  flame  of  purity,  only  the 
wicked,  evil-disposed,  and  unbelieving  found  him  fearful 
like  a  sword.  Women  who  flocked  into  his  company, 
found  him  exceedingly  womanly,  and  to  children,  of 
whom  he  was  very  fond,  he  was  ever  child-like.  The 
harmony  of  a  higher  world  was  in  him.  His  complica- 
ted, many-sided  perfection  made  it  difficult  to  compre- 
hend him.  He  was  sound  and  whole  to  the  very  core, 
and  he  "made  the  earth  wholesome"  to  those  who 
were  around  him.  We  have  tried  to  describe  what  the 
land  and  the  people  were  when  Keshub  entered  into 
public  life,  let  us  reflect  on  the  state  of  society  now  that 
he  has  gone  away  from  us.  Higher  aspirations  of 
spirituality  have  been  kindled  throughout  the  country. 
Every  religion  has  caught  fire  in  India,  every  community 
scintillates  with  life.  The  course  of  an  imperfect  foreign 
civilization,  borrowed  at  second-hand  from  sources  un- 
worthy to  represent  it,  has  been  arrested.  There  is  a 
pronounced  re-action  against  Western  vices.    Education 


THE   CHANGES    HE   EFFECTED.  37 

has  deepened  in  its  tone,  widened  in  its  scope,  and  there 
is  a  perceptible  effort  to  connect  religion  and  ethics  with 
it.  A  strong-  sense  of  national  individuality  is  being  rear- 
ed up  on  a  basis  of  national  religion.  A  deep  and  strong 
enthusiasm  has  been  infused  into  the  moral  nature  of 
the  rising  generation.  A  large  majority  of  them  have 
embraced  the  simple  principles  of  a  universal  Theism, 
which  is  capable  of  innumerable  developments  on  all 
sides.  Social  reforms  of  every  kind  have  profoundly 
changed  Hindu  society,  elevated  the  condition  of  women, 
loosened,  and  nearly  broken  up  the  distinctions  of  caste, 
immense  classes  of  men  have  been  delivered  from  super- 
stition, and  priestly  despotism.  Every  good  seed  now 
bears  its  tree  in  the  country.  A  great  many  reformers 
have  risen  of  whom  KeshubChunderSen  was  the  pioneer. 
The  youth  of  the  land  teem  with  fiery  enthusiasm  of  which 
he  kindled  the  first  flame.  An  impatience  of  social  im- 
purity and  wrong  characterizes  the  generation,  he  gave 
the  first  impetus  to  such  feelings.  The  nation  abounds  in 
orators,  of  whom  he  was  the  father  and  the  model.  All 
denominations  are  full  of  missionary  activity  which  he 
originated.  He  influenced  the  land  and  nation  in  more 
ways  than  can  be  counted.  But  of  course  nowhere  are 
the  effects  of  his  life  and  labours  more  definitely  per- 
ceptible than  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  When  he  entered 
it  he  found  in  it  a  few  elementary  particles  of  uncertain 
Deism ;  he  left  it  a  most  highly  organized  religion, 
with  far-reaching  doctrines,  with  a  catholic  culture  that 
embraces  the  discoveries  and  developments  of  every 
faith  and  communion.     He  found  it  a  barren  rock  which 


38  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S    TIMES. 

scarcely  yielded  to  any  one  the  living  water  of  spiritual 
life,  and  upon  which  no  practical  reforms  of  any  kind 
could  grow.  He  left  it  a  great  fruitful  field,  producing 
social  reforms  without  number,  the  golden  harvests  of 
the  intellect,  of  unsurpassed  devotions,  and  mature  reli- 
gious character.  He  found  it  an  abode  of  dry  rational- 
ism, nearly  devoid  of  all  personal  religion.  He  left 
it  full  of  every  form  of  faith  and  spirituality,  full  of 
devoted  men  and  women  ready  to  die  for  their  faith. 
When  he  entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  all  that  it  possess- 
ed in  the  shape  of  scriptures  was  a  fragment  of  Vedantic 
teaching.  He  left  to  it  the  legacy  of  the  scriptures  of 
all  nations.  He  found  in  it  the  absence  of  any  personal 
centre — an  absence  of  prophets  and  holy  examples  that 
hold  mankind  together.  He  left  it  a  populous  pan- 
theon in  which  the  holy  and  good  of  all  religions  are 
congregated — the  great  saints  and  sages  of  ancient  India, 
the  prophets  and  seers  of  India  and  Arabia,  the  best 
and  holiest  of  all  lands  culminating  in  the  blessed  ever- 
lasting Son  of  God.  He  found  the  Brahmo  Somaj  in 
hostile  array  to  Christianity,  and  the  missionaries  of 
Christendom.  He  left  it  full  of  invaluable  sympathy 
cordially  tendered  by  leading  Christian  thinkers  and 
ministers,  by  some  of  the  greatest  men  of  Christian 
lands.  The  fame  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  now  rings  nearly 
all  through  Asia,  Europe,  and  America.  He  found  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  a  frail  human  organization  ;  he  left  it  a 
great  Divine  Dispensation,  whose  future  involves  the 
spiritual  future  of  mankind. 

But    can    any    passing    introduction    like   this  unfold 


CATHOLICITY   OF   HIS    GENIUS.  39 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  genius  r  That  genius  was  com- 
plicate, profound,  restless,  God-inspired.  It  reflected 
every  light,  every  want,  every  aspiration  of  the  age. 
It  aimed  at  removing  all  darkness,  doubt,  sorrow.  He 
laboured  really,  radically  to  bring  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
on  earth.  He  lived  in  that  kingdom  in  his  heart,  he 
wanted  to  make  it  a  fact  in  the  world.  He  tried  to  live 
like  an  ideal  Hindu  devotee,  like  a  mystical  Christian 
saint,  and  also  like  a  practical  European  reformer.  He 
laboured  to  be  true  to  every  relation  of  his  many-sided 
life,  as  a  householder,  a  minister,  a  message-bearer  of 
heaven,  a  subject,  citizen,  man  of  the  times,  as  the  son 
and  servant  of  God,  establishing  new  ideals  of  spiritual 
culture  and  attainment.  He  was  an  originator  and 
author  of  things,  turning  ideas  into  facts,  making  the 
abstract  concrete.  He  was  a  seer  of  unseen  truths  and 
harmonies  in  strange  phases  of  life  and  systems,  his 
heart  as  broad  as  human  goodness.  He  was  the  prophet 
of  better  times,  of  a  higher  faith,  of  a  purer  morality,  of  a 
superior  humanity.  He  was  an  unwearied  doer  of  the 
right  and  the  true,  a  ceaseless  sower  of  the  good  seed, 
an  uncomplaining  labourer  whose  reward  came  not  to 
him  on  this  earth.  He  fell  in  an  uncongenial  soil, 
worked  amid  very  depressing  environments,  worked 
with  inferior  instruments.  Who  is  there  left  behind 
him  that  can  do  his  work  ?  The  squabbles  and  quarrels 
of  his  successors  are  without  dignity,  or  promise  of 
peace.  Keshub  knew  very  well  what  was  happening 
in  his  little  Church,  and  forecast  a  good  deal  of  the 
future.     But  his  soul   was  full  of  calmness   and  sweet- 


40  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN'S   TIMES. 

ness.  The  love  of  God  was  with  him  a  rest,  full  of  the 
mystery  of  strength.  With  him  faith  was  the  pro- 
foundest  wisdom,  and  a  certainty  in  every-day  life. 
With  him,  the  presence  of  God  was  a  ready  guidance 
that  sufficed  for  all  the  intricacies  of  a  unique  life  of 
strange  trials,  and  sufficed  for  an  untimely  death  of 
strangely  protracted  suffering.  He  lived  and  died  an 
intense,  burning,  restless  light,  which  suddenly  went 
down  in  its  fullness  and  undimmed  lustre.  And,  now 
that  he  is  gone,  in  our  darkness  wre  feel  we  knew  him 
not,  and  gave  him  not  his  due. 


TESTIMONIES   IN  MEMORIAM.  41 


TESTIMONIES  IN  MEMORIAM. 

k}  CARCELY  had  the  ashes  of  Keshub's  funeral  pyre 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  become  cold  when  con- 
dolences poured  in  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  Her 
Imperial  Majesty  the  Queen-Empress  of  India,  caused  a 
telegram  to  be  sent  from  London  through  the  Marquis  of 
Ripon,  the  Governor  General  of  India,  desiring  that  an 
expression  of  Her  Majesty's  regret  at  the  news  of  the 
death  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  should  be  conveyed  to  his 
family,  and  her  condolence  with  the  loss  they  had  sus- 
tained. Lord  Ripon  on  his  own  account  wrote  a  similar 
letter,  saying  that  the  loss  of  so  remarkable  a  man  would 
be  felt  throughout  India.  In  fact  the  loss  was  not  only 
felt,  but  realized  as  a  national  calamity.  From  every  pre- 
sidency, and  province,  almost  from  every  city,  and  com- 
munity, the  most  sympathetic  telegrams  and  epistles 
came  by  the  score,  expressing  the  warmest  sense  of  sym- 
pathy and  sorrow.  Mr.  H.  J.  S.  Cotton,  a  high  Govern- 
ment officer,  in  his  popular  book  on  "  New  India,"  cites 
the  instance  of  this  universal  grief  to  prove  that  the 
Indian  people  were  fast  growing  into  a  strong  national 
life.  Not  a  few  of  the  daily  newspapers  came  out  in 
black  borders,  the  vernacular  journals  were  specially 
pathetic  in  their  lamentations.  Public  meetings  of  vari- 
ous kinds  were  held  throughout  the  country,  and  every 
section  of  the  great  Indian  people,  both  Hindu  and 
Mahomedan,  was  equally  unreserved  in  the  expression 
6 


42  TESTIMONIES    IN   MEMORIAM. 

of  its  testimony  to  his  worth  and  greatness.  Religious 
bodies,  and  eminent  men  in  other  countries,  wrote 
in  a  similar  strain.  It  will  be  interesting  to  preserve 
some  of  these  testimonies. 

At  a  great  memorial  meeting  held  in  the  Town  Hall  of 
Calcutta  on  the  30th  January,  1884,  a  very  large  number 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Calcutta,  Hindu,  Mahomedan,  and 
European  assembled  to  do  honour  to  his  memory.  The 
late  Hon'ble  J.  Gibbs,  who  officiated  as  Governor-General 
for  the  time,  and  was  appointed  President  of  the  Memo- 
rial Committee,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  I  have  formany  years  been  deeply  interested  in  that  great  movement  over 
which  the  lamented  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  so  ably  and  wisely  presided.  I 
had  heard  of  it  before  I  came  to  this  country,  and  when  quite  a  child,  remem- 
ber seeing  Rajah  Rammohun  Roy,  who  was  a  friend  of  my  father's,  while  for 
the  past  20  years  I  have  personally  watched  its  progress  with  great  interest. 
The  resolution  describes  the  meeting  as  being  one  representing  all  classes  of 
the  community,  and  it  is  as  representing  one  of  those  classes  that  I  feel  it 
a  duty  to  be  present  and  bear  testimony  to  the  loss  which  India  has  sustained 
by  the  death  of  this  great  religious  leader.  That  his  removal  is  a  national 
loss,  the  presence  of  so  large  a  number  of  gentlemen  here  this  afternoon  amply 
testifies.  He  was  a  man  who  had  the  real  welfare  of  his  countrymen  most 
deeply  at  heart,  and  his  anxiety  for  that  welfare  was  not  limited  by  the 
thoughts  of  this  world,  its  honours  and  advantages,  but  took  a  far  higher 
range,  and  while  he  wished  to  see  his  followers  good  citizens  and  loyal 
subjects,  he  hoped  and  prayed  that  when  this  transitory  life  has  passed  away, 
they  might  obtain  greater  and  far  more  enduring  benefits  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  In  this  he  strove,  for  this  he  laboured  night  and  day,  for  this  he  spent  his 
life,  yes,  for  this  he  gave  up  his  life  for  his  fellow  countrymen.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  enquire  into  or  comment  on  the  tenets  of  his  faith,  to  show  how  broad 
a  building  he  raised  on  the  comparatively  narrow  foundation  he  found  laid  by 
his  predecessor,  or  how  near  he  has  approached  to  Christianity  ;  suffice  it  to 
say  that  what  he  saw  good  in  that  as  in  other  religions,  he  adopted.  To  the 
European  mind  his  language  and  imagery  may  have  seemed  strange  and 
fanciful,  those  sacred  ideas  which  are  so  well  known  to  the  dwellers  in  the  West, 


THE   LATE   MR.   GIBBS   AND   SIR   W.   HUNTER.  43 

when  dressed  in  an  occidental  garb  are  difficult  fully  to  recognize,  and  we 
must  not,  therefore,  criticize  them  as  we  would  the  thoughts  and  words  of  a 
Western  teacher.  It  is  enough  for  us,  who  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing 
him,  who  listened  to  his  public  utterances,  read  his  writings,  and  heard  his 
conversation,  to  feel  that  he  was  a  great,  a  good,  and  an  earnest  man,  whose 
name  will  be  reverenced  for  years  to  come,  whose  labours  will  doubtless, 
bear  fruit  in  an  increasing  ratio  year  by  year. 

"  '  But  having  sown  some  generous  seed, 
Fruitful  of  further  thought  and  deed,' 
And  we  may  comfort  ourselves  with  the  assurance 

"  '  I  know  that  age  to  age  succeeds, 

Blowing  a  notice  of  tongues  and  needs, 

A  dust  of  systems  and  of  creeds. 

I  cannot  hide  that  some  have  striven, 

Achieving  calm,  to  whom  was  given 

The  joy  which  mixes  man  with  Heaven. '  " 

Sir  William  Hunter,  the  distinguished  scholar,  and 
historian,  who  presided  over  this  meeting  made  a  most 
feeling"  speech.     He  said 

"  Maharajas,  and  gentlemen, — We  are  met  together  to-day  to  do  honour 
to  the  memory  of  a  great  man.  Some  of  us  have  had  the  privilege  of  know- 
ing him  in  more  tender  and  sacred  relations,  as  a  religious  leader,  or  as  a 
beloved  friend,  and  the  deep  sense  of  personal  loss  caused  by  his  death  has  in 
many  ways  found  fitting  expression.  But  it  is  neither  as  his  private  friends, 
nor  as  his  spiritual  fellows  that  we  are  assembled  now  at  this  great  public 
meeting.  The  list  of  gentlemen  who  desired  the  Sheriff  to  convene  the 
meeting,  has  been  published  in  the  newspapers,  and  has  been  read  by  many 
of  you.  It  consists,  as  you  know,  of  representative  men  of  all  races  and 
creeds  ;  of  Englishmen  high  in  the  Councils,  and  in  the  administration  of  the 
Empire,  or  distinguished  at  the  bar,  and  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Courts, 
of  Hindus  of  eveiy  caste,  from  orthodox  Brahmans  and  landholders  of  ancient 
noble  families,  to  men  of  the  new  lights,  and  of  the  most  advanced  views  ; 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Mahomedan  community,  of  Christian  ministers,  Protes- 
tant and  Roman  Catholic  ;  of  merchants,  editors,  men  of  science,  and  men 
of  the  pen.  As  I  read  that  list,  I  could  not  but  ask  myself  what  constraining 
influence  was  there  in  my   dead  friend  which  sufficed  to  bring   together  for 


44  TESTIMONIES   IN   MEMORIAM. 

common  action,  a  body  of  men  whose  views  and  whose  interests  lie  ordinarily 
so  far  apart.     Then  I  remembered  a  saying  of  his  own  : — 

"  '  It  is  easy  to  distinguish  a  great   man,  but  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend 
him.'     It  is  because  we  of  different  races  and  diverse  creeds  have  distinguished 
in  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  the  authentic  marks  of  greatness  ;  because   we  have 
recognised  in  him  one  of  those  rare  men  of  simplicity,  genius,  and  power 
whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  others,  and  who  is  now  for  ever  hal- 
lowed  by   the  pathos  of  an  early  death,    that   we  are  here  assembled  to  do 
honour  to  his  memory.     Keshub   Chunder  Sen  was  no  anonymous  person. 
His  days   were  spent  among  us.     His  unwearied  public  labours,  his  charm  in 
social  intercourse,  his  warm  affections  in  all  the  relations  of  family  life,   are 
well   known.     There  was  about  him,   in  private,  a  certain  blameless  dignity, 
not  less  attractive  than  his  splendid   public   eloquence  in  speech.     It  was  in 
truth   a  many-sided  character,  singularly  transparent,  which  disclosed  even  its 
weaknesses,  its  limitations,  and  self-repressions.    The  only  thing  not  generally 
known  about  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  is  the  extent  of  his  secret   charities.     He 
was  born  in  a  position  well  suited  for  the  part  which  he  was  destined  to  play 
in  life.     His  grandfather  was  the   friend   and  coadjutor    of  Horace  Hayman 
Wilson  ;  and   his  family  combined   wealth   and  a  high  position  among  the 
Hindu  community  with  a  genuine  love  of  culture.     In  his  early  home  all  that 
was  best  in  the  old  and  in  the  new  life  of  Bengal  met.     From   that  common 
camping-ground  of  eastern  orthodoxy  in  life  with  western  freedom  of  thought 
he    went   forth  as  a  young  man  on  a  campaign  of  his  own.     Others  will  tell  of 
the  sorrows,  the  persecution,  the  renunciations    of  those  years;  of  the  hard 
battles  fought;  and  of  the  victory  over  self  and  the  world  finally  won.     My 
duty  in  opening  a  meeting,  representing  in  a  special  degree  the  East  and  the 
West,  i-  confined  to  pointing  out  that  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  represented,  in  a 

special  manner,  the  fusion  of  European  science  with  Indian  thought.  In  his 
efforts  to  reach  the  intellects  and  the  consciences  of  his  countrymen,  he 
employed  every  vehicle  of  instruction,  from  the  ancient  Bengali  drama  to 
the  modern  leading  article.     The  production  of  the  classical  play,  the  Bi- 

dhava     Bibaha    Natak,    under    the    stage    manager-hip   of  the    young    Keshub 

Chunder,  marks  an  era  not  only  in  the  history  of  the  Indian  theatre,  but  in 
the  pn  of  public  opinion  on  the  important  question  of  widow  marriage. 

His  tracts  for  the  times,  of  which  the  first  bore  the  characteristic  title  of 
4  Vo  ung   Bengal,   this  is  foi   you'     formed  anothei   successful  effort  to  reach 

the  public  i-.u.     In  bis  maturei  life  he  employed  every  modem  means  which  a 

man  oi    genius  and  energy  can  devise  for  enforcing  his  spiritual    doctrines   and 


SIR   W.   HUNTER.  45 

his  lofty  morality  upon  his  countrymen.  The  newspapers  which  he  founded 
or  with  which  he  identified  himself ;  his  missionary  tours ;  his  ever  active 
pen  ;  his  eloquence  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform  ;  his  unwearied  zeal  in 
teaching  all  who  came  to  him  to  learn  ;  these  were  the  weapons  with  which 
he  daily  fought  his  good  fight.  Death  found  him  in  the  midst  of  his  labours  ; 
but  the  concourse  at  this  meeting,  and  the  messages  received  from  many  dis- 
tant lands,  prove  that  India  and  England  are  alike  resolved  that  his  memory 
shall  not  be  forgotten.  Before  asking  His  Excellency,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Gibbs, 
to  propose  the  first  resolution,  permit  me  to  conclude  with  a  few  words  in 
which  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  many  years  ago,  expressed  his  conception  of  a 
great  man.  'The  peculiar  destiny  of  every  great  man,'  he  said  '  is  to  live 
and  die  for  one  idea.  This  idea  is  nothing  more  than  a  definite  plan  of  the 
particular  reform  needed  at  the  time.  Around  him  he  finds  society  degraded, 
impoverished,  and  ruined  :  within  him  lies  an  ideal  of  what  society  ought  to 
be — an  ideal  which  constantly  seeks  to  realise  and  to  develope  itself.  His 
life  is  thus  a  life  of  continued  struggle,  which  ceases  only  with  his  life."  My 
friends,  the  one  idea  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  advancement  of  his 
countrymen  to  loftier  standards  of  morality,  of  religion,  and  of  freedom  of 
thought.     For  that  idea  he  lived,  and  with  that  idea  he  died." 

Mr.  Justice  Cunningham,  is  not  only  a  distinguished 
Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Calcutta,  but  also  an  author 
of  considerable  renown.  He  is  a  son-in-law  of  the  great 
John  Lawrence,  who  was  such  a  staunch  friend  of 
Keshub  both  in  India  and  England.  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham's oration  is  more  philosophical  than  the  others, 
but  we  give  it  as  representing  a  fresh  and  important 
point  of  view. 

"I  maybe  permitted  to  state  shortly  the  grounds  on  which  I  think  that  not 
only  his  followers,  but  the  general  public  may  well  and  fitly  signalize  his 
career  by  some  of  those  external  tokens  of  respect  with  which  grateful 
society  keeps  alive  the  recollection  of  departed  worth.  Those  causes  are  to 
be  found  in  his  relation  to  the  country  and  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  his 
ability  to  meet  its  special  wants.  He  must,  indeed,  be  a  dull  and  unintelli- 
gent observer  who  fails  to  recognize,  in  what  is  now  going  on  in  India,  one  of 
the  most  important  and  interesting  intellectual  revolutions  the  world  has  ever 
known.     Two  branches  of  the  great  Aryan  family  have  met  on  the  plains  of 


46  TESTIMONIES    IX    MEMORIAM. 

Hindustan,   not  so  far  from  their   common  cradle — the  one  well  furnished 
with  the  results  of  Western  civilization,  the  last  discovery  of  science,  the  last 
achievement    of  art,    the   last  conquest    of  philosophic    induction  of  critical 
analysis  ;  the  other  hard-bound  in  a  vast  structure  of  tradition,   custom,   and 
primitive  dogma.      The   fusion  of  Western    knowledge  and    criticism    with 
an  old-world  system  naturally  produced  something  like  a  cataclysm  of  belief. 
Physical  science  assails  many  parts  of  the  old  creeds  as  grotesque  or  impos- 
sible :  the  student  of  history  impugns    them   from  a   second  stand-point,   the 
student  of  morals   from   a    third,    the  utilitarian   from  a  fourth.     There  is  a 
general  attitude  of  negation.     The  Queen's  Proclamation  enjoined  that  no 
one  should  be  molested  or  disquieted  by  reason  of  his  religious  faith  ;  and 
well  have  the  injunctions  been  observed;  but   there  has  been  a  process  at 
work  opposed  to  which  the  mandates  of  Sovereigns  are  as  powerless  as  the 
commands  of  King  Canute   to   the  advancing   tide.     The   stream   of  modern 
thought  rages  and  surges  about   the   old  religious   systems  and  undermines 
them.    To  borrow  Mr.  Mathew  Arnold's  simile,  the  tide  of  belief,  which  once 
flowed,  full  and  strong,  on  the  high  shores  of  the  world,  is  now  a    remote  and 
languid  current,  of  which  we  scarcely  hear  more  than  a  distant  murmur.     AVe 
seem,  as  has  been  finely  said,  like  men  who  '  stand  on  some   dizzy  mountain 
height   in  the  midst  of  whirling   snow  and  blinding  mist,  through  which  we 
now  and  then  get  glimpses  of  paths,  which  may  be  deceptive.     If  we  stand 
still    we    shall    be    frozen    to   death.     If  we   take  the  wrong  road  we  shall  be 
dashed  to  pieces.     We  do   not   certainly    know   if  there   be   any  right    one 
What    must    we    dor'     In    such    a    state  of  opinion  two  courses  arc  easy  and 
common,      it  is  easy  to  accept  with  alacrity  the  negative   results   of  criticism, 
to  welcome  as  unquestionable  gain  each  new  conquest  of  science  over  estab- 
lished opinion,  to  discard  witli  contempt  the  old  faiths,  and  with  the  old  faiths 
much  that  belongs  t<»  the  highest  parts  of  man's  emotional  nature.     It  is  com- 
mon and  easy,  again,  to  entrench  oneself  behind  this  or  that  dogmatic  system, 
and   to    fly   lor  refuge  to  the  kindly  sheltering  wing  of  religions  which  dispose 
of  doubt  by  condemning  the  doubter,  and  solve  the  problems  of  existence  by 
denouncing  every  attempt  at  solution  as  impiety.     It  is  easy,  in  fact,  to  in-  ma- 
ilist,  audit  is  easy  to  be  superstitious.      But  neither  materialism  nor  super- 
stition, nor  any  alliani  e  "i  the  two,  will  satisfy  the  aspirations  of  ourage.    It  the 
advance  of  man's  und<  rstandinginthe  paths  of  knowledge  is  inexorable,  equally 
inexorable,  it  has  been    aid  by  one  of  the  leaders  of  English  thought,  'are  the 
claims  oi  his  emotional  nature,  which  the  understanding  can  nevei  satisfy  ;  and, 
j  i    onsati  Red,    the  human  mind,  with  tin-  yearning  of  a  pilgrim  i"i  his  distant 


MR.   JUSTICE   CUNNINGHAM.  47 

home,  turns  to  the  mystery  from  which  it  has  emerged,  and  seeks  so  to  fashion 
it  as  to  give  unity  to  thought  and  faith.'  Such  a  reconciliation  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, is  the  highest  of  human  achievements,  and  every  attempt  at  it 
deserves  to  be  regarded  with  interest  and  esteem.  Common  natures  cannot 
conceive,  feeble  natures  cannot  attempt  it.  The  Native  of  India  who,  amid 
the  surrounding  ruins,  has  the  moral  force  to  conceive  a  system  of  pure  and 
refined  Deism,  which  satisfies  emotion  without  insulting  reason,  who  can 
commend  his  views  to  other  men,  and  mark  out  the  path  in  which  they  may 
treacl  and  organize  a  system  for  the  guidance  of  their  lives,  is  one  of  the 
moving  spirits  of  i  is  age.  We  five  in  a  tempestuous  epoch  ;  whither  its  wild 
waves  are  rushing,  to  what  distant  shores,  to  what  unknown  oceans,  upon 
what  shoals  or  rocks  they  may  bear  us,  it  is  forbidden  to  human  ignorance 
to  guess.  It  is  impossible  to  ignore  the  dangers,  the  anxieties  of  the  position. 
Meanwhile  the  man  who  can  realize  for  himself  and  help  others  to  realize  the 
conception  of  a  rational,  pure  and  elevating  theology  is,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
among  the  benefactors  of  his  species,  well  entitled  to  be  kept  in  affectionate 
remembrance,  not  only  by  those  whom  he  immediately  influenced,  or  who 
accept  his  doctrines  in  their  entirety,  but  by  the  generation  to  whose  highest 
and  gravest  wants  he  endeavoured  to  minister.  The  man  who,  unenslaved 
by  superstition,  untrammelled  by  custom  or  dogma,  unbewildered  by  the 
blaze  of  modern  discovery,  unterrified  by  doubt  can  minister  to  man's 
spiritual  wants  is  his  greatest  friend.  It  is  because  Babu  KLeshub  Chunder 
Sen  was  such  a  minister  and  friend,  that  I  think  those  among  whom  he  lived 
ought  to  do  something  to  keep  his  memory  alive  to  other  times." 

The  meeting  was  addressed  by  numbers  of  others  from 
our  Hindu,  Mahomedan,  and  Christian  fellow-citizens,  but 
none  spoke  so  forcibly  and  elaborately  as  the  three  we 
have  quoted.  Maharajah  Sir  Jotendro  Mohun  Tagore, 
who  is  the  present  head  of  the  orthodox  and  educated 
Hindu  community,  shortly  expressed  himself  to  the 
family  thus  :  "  A  most  remarkable  man  has  passed  away 
from  amongst  us,  and  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  we  shall 
not  find  the  like  of  him  soon.  If  sorrow  shared  is  sorrow 
soothed,  you  have  the  consolation  that  the  whole  commu- 
nity shares  in  your  grief,  for  all  India  mourns  the  loss  of 


48  TESTIMONIES   IX    MEMORIAM. 

one  who  was  great  in  his  goodness,  and  great  in  his 
worth."  The  Hindu  Patriot,  edited  by  Kristo  Das  Pal, 
who  was  destined  so  soon,  alas  !  to  follow  Keshub  into 
the  realm  unknown,  began  an  eulogistic  article  with 
the  words — "  A  Prince  and  a  great  man  has  fallen." 

Professor  F.  Max  Miiller's  profound  knowledge  of 
everything  Indian,  and  his  personal  interest  in  the  people 
of  this  country,  and  their  prospects,  are  sufficient  guar- 
antee of  the  accuracy  of  his  estimate  of  the  character 
of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  He  knew  Keshub  intimately 
for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  what  he  writes,  he  writes 
with  the  carefulness  of  a  scholar  and  an  antiquarian. 

"  India  has  lost  her  greatest  son,  Keshub   Chunder   Sen.     His   was  one  of 
the   few  names  known  not  only  most  widely  among  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  who  are  said  to  inhabit  the  vast  Indian  Empire,  but  familiar  even   to 
European  ears.     Many  of  us  saw  him   during  his   stay  in  England  in  1S70, 
listened  to  him,  admired  and  loved  him,  and   not  a   few  have   ever   since   re- 
mained united  witli  him  by  the  bonds  of  a  real  friendship.     If  we  look  around 
for  true  greatness,  not  only  in  England  or  Europe,  but  in  the  whole   civilized 
world,  and  if  we  try  to  measure  such  greatness,  not  by  mere  success  or  popu- 
larity, but  honestly  and,  so  to  say,  historically,  taking   into   account   the   cha- 
racter of  the  work   done  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  done,  lew.  I  believe, 
would  deny  that  it  was  ^riven  to  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  to  perform   one   of  the 
greatest  works  in  our  generation,   and   that  he  performed  it  nobly  and  well, 
kike  all  great  men,  he  had  warm  friends  and  bitter  enemies.     He  himself  was 
proud  of  both,  and  though  fully  aware  of  the  greatness  of  the  work  committed 
to  him,  and  quite  conscious  of  his  own  worth  and  dignity,  he  far  more  frequent- 
ly protested  against  exaggerated  praise   than   against   unmerited   blame.     Xo 
doubt  the  controversy  between  his  followers  and  opponents  will  continue  long 
after  his  death  nor  is  it  likely  that   posterity   will  be  more  forbearing  to   his 
weaknesses  than  it  has  lately  proved  Itself  to  lie  in  the  case  of  other  religious 
reformers,  such  as  Wicklif,  or  Luther.     But  if  we  deduct  an  equal  share  on 
both   sides — on   the  side  of  exaggerated   praise  as  well  as  on  the  side  of  un- 
merited blame— there  remains  a  sufficient  amount  of  independent  contempo- 
rary judgment  to  secure  to  Keshub  Chunder  Sen   the   first   place  among 


PROF.    MAX   MULLER   AND   THE   NEWSPAPERS.        49 

his  fellow  countrymen,  and   a   pre-eminent   place   among  the  best  of  man- 
kind.    *     *     * 

"  Of  late  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  devotion  to  Christ  seemed  excessive  to 
many  of  his  friends  in  India  and  Europe.  If  he  had  lived  in  the  first  century 
he  would  have  been  the  most  loving  disciple  of  the  Founder  of  our  religion  ; 
living  in  the  nineteenth,  though  he  was  more  truly  a  Christian  than  hundreds 
or  thousands  who  call  themselves  Christians,  yet  he  would  not  join  our  ranks, 
but  set  himself  the  higher  and  harder  task  which  he  called  the  task  of  '  Chris- 
tianizing Christianity."     *     *     * 

"  But  as  long  as  there  is  a  religion  in  India,  whatever  its  name  may  be,   the 
name  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  will  be  gratefully  remembered  as  one  who  lived 
and  died  for  the  glory  of  God,  for  the  welfare  of  mankind,  and  for  the   truth, 
so  far  as  he  could  see  it." 

The  English  newspapers  in  India  are  generally  un- 
favourable to  the  merits  and  claims  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country.  But  on  Keshub's  death  they  sank  their 
differences,  and  emulated  the  appreciative  enthusiasm  of 
their  Hindu  contemporaries.  The  Englishman,  the 
chief  organ  of  the  English  community  in  Calcutta, 
spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  Our  practical  English  standard  is  the  severest  test  of  all,  for  it  is  only  the 
practical  that  will  survive  ;  yet  test  him  as  we  may,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
was  no  common  Hindu,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  success,  as  that 
largely  of  a  self-made  and  self-cultured  man,  was  reared  upon  a  foundation 
of  independent  individuality  and  purpose.  Whatever  point  of  view  may  be 
taken,  there  was  much  good  in  him  that  must  be  universally  admitted  and 
recognised.  His  amiable  character,  his  graceful  manners,  his  refined  address 
were  appreciated  by  all,  and  made  him  a  fine  model  of  the  modern  Bengali 
gentleman,  and  an  ennobling  presence  in  contemporary  Hindu  life. 

"  His  activity  was  almost  entirely  connected  with  Calcutta,  his  birth-place 
and  his  permanent  home,  where  he  lived  to  become  the  most  romantic  and  in- 
teresting figure  in  native  society.  It  is  unnecessary  to  recapitulate  the  well- 
known  facts  of  his  life,  which  have  become,  by  the  force  of  circumstances, 
a  kind  of  public  property.  No  Hindu  ever  made  his  name  so  widely  known 
beyond  his  own  country,  or  drew  the  attention  of  the  public  so  closely  in  his 

7 


rESTIMONIES    IX    MhMORIAM. 


r.     Yet  his  life  was  of  the  simplest  and 

the  clement-  of  his  humility  were  kindly  mixed  by  nature.     His 

r-  was  mainly  due   to  his  careful   self-culture,   his  unfailing  confidence 

in  |  the    -kill    with    which   he   adapted    himself  to   his   circum- 

not  a  few  his  dignified  appearance  and  conversation  threw  a  strange 

that  they  passed  from  him  as  enthusiastic  admirers  ;  but 

nninating  did  not  go  empty  away. 

hieved  the  highest  success  among  his  educated  country- 

-i.     He  described   his  public  utterances  as  unpremeditated,  but  his  power 

ntly  the   result   of  careful   training  and  preparation.     His  English 

Icrfully  pure  ;  his  delivery  free  and  graceful  ;  and  his  finish  at  times 

ah:  aian.      It  mi  this  faculty,  especially  in   its   annual   displays  be- 

crowded  in  the  Town  Hall,  that  so  greatly  impressed  Ins 
1  made  him  the  idul  of  young  Bengal." 

[Tie   /        '.'    I  hiily  News  is  second  only  in  importance 
to  the  Englishman^  and  the  estimate  it  gives  is  valuable, 
bo  ause  m<  >re  detailed,  and  shows  greater  personal  know- 
man. 

..  J  nnginyi  u     Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  almost  from  his 

%  athocci         the  place  of  a  great  leader  of  thought  amongst  the  natives. 

ankrae,  be  the  doctrines  he  preached  seemed  to  be 

tare,  and  to  aim  at  developing  a  new  system,  specially 

i  Keshnb  Chunder  Sen'-  work  is  not  likely  to 

in  this  century ;  but  when  men  shall  look  hack  after  a 

mentS  in  thought  and  religion, 

_  og  probably  the   Indian  Christianity  of  that  day  in  a 

i   it-  Hindooism,   it  will  probably  be  that 

,  that  of  the    man    who    h.is  just    gone 

I  ■   the  place  to  discuss  the  peculiar  system  in- 

K      ub  Chundei  s'  n.     Wt  have  only  to-day  to  express  om 

>ubt  not  the  sorrow  ofoui  n  .  .it  the  early  passing 

n,  hecausc,  in    spite    of  many    peculiarities 

at.  .  he  was  .i  strong  influence  in  that  awakening,  political 

ing  upon    India.      Keshub  Chunder  Sen 


THE   INDIAN  NEWSPAPERS.  5  I 

will  stand  as  an  orator  in  the  front  rank  with  men  like  Gladstone,  Bright,  and 
Gambetta,  except  that  his  influence  and  his  oratory  were  devoted  to  religion 
and  the  culture  of  the  heart,  instead  of  to  politics  and  statecraft.  Few 
Englishmen  of  any  age  had  a  more  thorough  command  of  the  subtler  resources 
of  the  English  tongue.  He  could  sound  the  depths  of  metaphysics,  and 
whilst  commanding  wonder  and  admiration  at  the  power  of  his  fancy,  and 
the  vigour  and  richness  of  his  imagination  he  could  also  at  will  unlock  the 
closest  gates  of  feeling.  Such  a  man  was  too  large  to  fill  a  subordinate  post, 
and  yet  his  qualities  were  scarcely  those  of  a  mighty  fashioner.  He  could  not 
organise  because  nature  formed  him  to  rouse  and  excite,  and  it  was  his 
special  mission  to  create  a  strong  and  living  desire  for  higher  things  in  the 
minds  of  his  countrymen,  and  to  focus  their  thoughts  upon  religious  subjects. 
He  drew  to  himself  a  powerful  body  of  teachers,  men  of  great  mental  power 
and  singular  eloquence,  and  to  these  he  has  bequeathed  the  task  of  gathering 
in  the  crop  he  himself  sowed  so  abundantly.  He  created  the  church  of  which 
he  was  the  head,  but  it  is  for  those  who  sat  at  his  feet  to  give  that  church  a 
form  and  system  which  shall  make  it  a  permanent  institution  in  this  land." 

The  Indian  Empire  was  a  thoughtful  exponent  at  the 
time  of  the  opinions  of  the  highly  educated,  anglicised 
Hindu  community.  Those  who  remember  how  hyper- 
critical this  community  is  in  praising  the  merits  of  any 
contemporary  character,  will  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
following  estimate : 

"  We  for  ourselves  have  carefully  watched  the  proceedings  of  the  remarkable 
man  for  the  last  ten  years ;  and  we  must  do  him  the  justice  of  saying  that 
Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  very  best  product  of  English  education 
and  Christian  civilization  in  India.  The  influence  which  the  English  nation 
has  been  for  a  century  exercising  over  the  people  of  India — a  people  who  can 
boast  of  glorious  traditions  and  of  an  ancient  civilization  of  a  very  high  order 
— has  been  variously  described  ;  and  the  greatest  thinkers  of  England  have 
already  been  disposed  to  think  that  the  most  difficult  problem  which  England 
will  shortly  be  called  upon  to  consider  and  settle  is  that  connected  with  her 
Indian  dependency.     *     * 

"  The  leavening  and  civilising  influence  of  Christianity  was  always  an  object 
of  regard  with  him ;  but  the  materialistic  tendencies  of  the  Christian  nations, 


resi  [M<  'Nirs  in  memoriaM. 

:.illv  the  unwholesome  influence  those  tendencies  would   unquestion- 

ah:  in   the   formation  of  the  character  of  a  future  India,  Keshub 

Chunder  could  not  contemplate  without   a   feeling  of  horror.     His  was   the 

mi-ion  to  conserve  all  that  is  good  and  great  in  Hindu  philosophy  and  Hindu 

s<k  it  a  vigorous  and  orgainsed  attack  of  Christian  civilization  ; 

I  then  to  adapt   them   to   the  stern   requirements   of  the   times.     He  was 

tractive   than  destructive  reformer.     He  fully  realised,  what  a 

lians  have  since  realised,  that  while  it  is  impossible  to 

.shut  out  the  powerful  influence  of  a  Christian  Government,  India  will  not  fare 

1  l>y  making  an  indiscriminate  and  wholesale  surrender  of  her  religious, 

political,  and  social  institutions.      The  great  truth  which  Keshub  Chunder 

v  :\  fully  comprehended  and  preached   was   India's  conservatism,  but  in  a 

rit,  and  in  due  consonance  with  the  signs  of  the  times.     That  an 

ul  1  at  once  combine  in  his  life  and  character  the  results  of  Western 

sci  tern  spirituality  was,  in  our  opinion,  the  one  grand  idea  upon 

which  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  lived,   and   which   he   earnestly   and  unceasingly, 

through   good   report   and   evil  report,   laboured   to   impress  on  his  country- 

n. 

•In   him,    the    Hindu  community  has  lost   the   ablest  and  the  foremost  of 

well-wishers ;  in   him,    the  Christian    world    has  lost  the  most  uneom- 

I'  noising  and    admirer   of  Christ's    Christianity,   and  an  unsparing 

the  present  mutilation  of  Hi>  Divine  precepts  and  teachings.    The 
I  rant  will  mi—  the  ;  who  dived  deep  into  the  question  of 

I  litical  advancement,   and  who  exerted  unceasingly  to  shorten  the 

!  that  separate-,  the  various  nationalities  living  in  this  vast  country. 

Tip-  Bengalee  is  one  of  the  most  influential  journals 
in  India  in  modelling  and  representing  public  opinion 
among  the  native  population.    And  it  speaks  thus  on 

til--  «\  <'iit  :  — 

"  >'   *  be  permitted   to  take  a   forecast   of  the  estimation  which 

i-         K    hul)  Chunder   Sen   is  to  enjoy  among  coming  generations,   we 

,;'l!   '"    will   :  irded  aa  one  of  the  great  teachers  of  mankind 

wn  •'  "'    thought,    mw    springs    of  aelion,    in    the 

"'  man'snature.     Horn  eer  conflicting  maybe  the  views  of  his 
oporaries  with  reference  to  the  merits  oJ  his  teachings  or  the  personal 


THE   INDIAN   NEWSPAPERS.  53 

acts  of  his  life,   of  this  we  may  be  sure   that  he  will  stand  forth  before  the 
judgment  of  posterity,  as  a  man  of  great  genius  and  of  great  eloquence,   who 
dedicated  the  labours  of  a  lifetime  to  the  sendee  of  humanity.     His  weak- 
nesses, if  there  were  any,  will  be  forgotton,  his  mistakes,  for  who  amongst  us 
is  infallible,  will  be  condoned.     The  recollection  of  his  services  will   survive, 
his  triumphs  will  be  remembered.     The  impetus  that  he  communicated  to  the 
religious  thought  of  his  country  will  be  cherished  in  grateful  recollection,  and 
in  the  pantheon  of  our  great  men,  in  that  noble  temple  which   shall  be  re- 
plenished from  the  great  dead  of  all  ages,  he  will  occupy  a  place  by  the  side 
of  those  great  teachers  of  our  race,  whose  names  excite  homage   and   venera- 
tion in  our  breasts.     Chaitanya,  Ram  Mohan  Roy,  and  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
will  form  the  religious  trinity  of  modernTndia.    But  he  will  be  remembered,  we 
venture  to  think,  not  so  much  for  the  merits  of  his  teachings  as  for  the  impulse 
he  communicated  to  the  religious  and  moral  thought  of  Iris  countrymen.     He 
was  the  author  of  a  great  revival — he  called  forth  into  vigorous  life  the  dor- 
mant  moral  and  religious  instincts  of  his  countrymen.     His  was  the  word 
that  broke  the  spell,  that  roused  the  sleeper  from  his   sleep,   and  communica- 
ted the  flutter  of  new  life  into  an  all  but  dead  system.     Such  a  man  deserves 
our  gratitude,  and  we  trust  the  public  expression  of  sorrow  which  must  soon 
follow  will  take  a  permanent  and  useful  form.     He  has  lived  for  us  ;  and  let 
him  live  in  the  hearts  of  our  children,  and  our  children's   children  even  unto 
remote  generations.     We  trust  all  will    sink  their  differences,  and  unite  in 
honouring  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  their  race." 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Keshub  left  behind  him 
a  large  number  of  very  severe  opponents.  The  Bengal 
Public  Opinion,  at  this  time  the  organ  of  the  Sadharan 
Brahmo  Somaj,  fully  represented  them.  The  value  of  its 
estimate  therefore  is  as  peculiar  as  it  is  high : — 

"  His  death  will  cast  a  gloom  all  over  India.  His  friends  and  admirers,  from 
Europe  and  America,  will  mingle  their  tears  with  those  of  his  own  country- 
men, and  mourn  his  premature  death.  Keshub  Chunder  was  yet  in  his  prime 
of  manhood,  when  the  cruel  hand  of  death  snatched  him  away.  His  age  at 
the  time  of  his  death  was  only  a  little  over  forty.  His  loss  will  be  deeply 
mourned  by  the  whole  of  India.  As  for  the  Church  of  which  he  was  the 
head  and  mainstay  his    loss    will    be    simply    irreparable.      That    Keshub 


54  CESTIMONIES   IX   MEMORIAM. 

I    imtder  VU  I  great  man,  perhaps  the  greatest  man  in  India  at   the  present 
meat,  few  will  deny.     Friends  and  foes  alike  respected  and  admired  his 
great  genius,  and  friends  and  foes  alike  will   at  this  dark  hour  join  together 
in  mourning  his  premature  death.     His  faults  and  foibles,  his  weaknesses  and 
.  will  now  be  buried  with  his  ashes,  while  his  virtues  will  re- 
main for  ever  a  grand  legacy  to  his  countrymen,  and  his  genius  will  ever Te- 
.  e  the  I  Imiration  of  the  whole  world  to  the  eternal  glorihca- 

i  of  hi  and  his  country.     .May  the  Lord  in  His  mercy  grant  peace  to 

The  Lucknom    Witness  is   the   organ   of  one   of  the 
Strait  octs  of  Trinitarian  Christianity  in  the  country, 

and  this  is  how  it  speaks  ; — 

•It   would   be   received   with  incredulity  by  those  perhaps  best  qualified  to 

Of  an  Opinion,  if  one  said    that    the    Hindoos   had    spiritual  natures  which 

led  to  sympathy  n  idily  than  their  intellects  yielded  to  argument. 

STet  Kesho    I    lund  i  Sen  demonstrated  that  to  be  the  fact.     He  appealed  to 

:  human  nature  for  a  higher  life,  and  his  countrymen  responded  to 

tlu  '.     He  offer  L  himself  as  a  guide  and  they  followed  him  without 

r  any  credentials   beyond   their  own  impression  that  he  was  in  the 

v  <>f  the   truth.     With   a   /r.il    not   always   surpassed   by   Christians,    his 

Itrength,    pleasure,   money  ami  earthly  prospects  to 
the  requirements  of  God,  as  their  teacher  made  them  feel  these  to  be. 
And    he   was   no  qnai  k,  working  upon  their  superstition  with  mysterious  rites 
tomhed  their  spirits  and  led  them." 

Tip-  A  ndon  Daily  News  in  a  few  well  chosen  sen- 
■  ^presses  itself  thus  : — 

••  l  !■■  had  many  persona]  >  hanu  teristics  which  fitted  him  for  such  religious 

A  fine  countenance ;  a  majestic  presence,  and  that  rapt  look  which  of 

.a  almost  irresistible  fascination  over  impressible  minds,  lent 

Jul  fori  e  to  a  iwift,  kindling,  and  poetii  al  oratory  which  married  itseli 

to!  rty  spiritual  teaching  as  ]  onto  noble  words." 

Ih"  Rev.  Joseph  Cooke  oi  Boston,  the  famous  lec- 
turer and  Christian  theologian,  made  extensive  travels 
in  Lndia  in  i  He  formed  Keshub's  acquaintance  in 


MR.   JOSEPH   COOK   AND   HERR   BANDMANN.  55 

Calcutta,  and  their  relations  became  somewhat  intimate 
in  spite  of  the  differences  in  their  theology.  Mr.  Cooke 
wrote  extensive  sketches  of  his  experiences  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  and  when  the  leader  died,  expressed  the 
following  cordial  estimate  in  the  New  York  Inde- 
pendent : — 

"A  heroic  soldier  of  religious  reform,  a  saint,  a  seer  has  passed  into  the 
world  into  which  all  men  haste.  No  Asiatic  interested  me  as  much  as  did 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  I  came  near  enough  to  him  to  understand  something 
of  his  nature,  his  environment,  his  struggles,  his  triumphs,  his  defeats,  his 
hopes.  On  no  one  born  in  India  did  I  build  more  expectation  than  on  him  as 
to  the  future  of  reform  among  the  educated  circles  of  Hindustan.  How  noble 
he  was,  how  serious,  how  worthy  of  spiritual  leadership,  how  intense,  how 
eloquent,  how  prayerful !  I  saw  in  his  soul  the  Oriental  type,  and  was 
taught  much  by  it,  and  had  hoped  to  be  taught  more.  The  news  from  the 
Ganges  that  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  is  dead  overwhelms  me  with  a  more 
profound  sense  of  personal  bereavement  than  I  can  now  remember  to  have  felt 
before  at  the  departure  of  any  public  man.  A  most  interesting  and  noble 
career  ended  at  an  age  of  less  than  forty-six.  O,  my  brother,  my  brother, 
how  lonely  the  world  seems  without  thee  !" 

Herr  Bandmann  came  out  as  an  eminent  Shaksperian 
actor  in  Calcutta  some  years  ago.  He  formed  a  casual 
acquaintance  with  Keshub,  and  his  sentiments  publish- 
ed in  an  American  newspaper,  come  as  a  curious  and 
unexpected  testimony : — 

"  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  most  learned  and  enlightened  native  in  East 
India,  I  may  go  further  and  say  in  the  entire  Orient.  With  a  grand,  impos- 
ing, athletic  figure,  a  noble  bearing,  he  combined  an  expressive  dignity  which 
reminded  one  of  the  patrician  Roman.  He  was  fully  six  feet  high,  broad 
shouldered,  deep  chested,  of  slightly  olive  complexion,  mild,  eloquent  eyes, 
firm  set  lips,  genial  chin,  black  moustache,  and  long  black  hair,  which  hung 
carelessly  over  a  well-developed  forehead.  He  was  my  beau  ideal  of  an 
'Othello  make-up,'  and  I  told  him  that  I  would  bring  his  face  on  the  stage 


56  TESTIMONIES   IN    ME.MORIAM. 

when  I  should  play  that  part.  He  laughed  and  came  to  see  it  (as  he  was 
never  absent  from  any  of  my  Shakesperian  impersonations).  After  the 
performance  he  came  into  my  dressing  room,  and  spoke  highly  of  the  acting. 
1  But  what  did  you  think  of  my  make-up  ?'  I  asked.  '  If  it  was  meant  for 
me,'  he  answered,  'I  can  only  say  that  I  could  not  see  myself  in  it,  for  I 
beheld  a  handsome  man.' 

"  He  sp  ike  the  English  language  without  the  slightest  accent,  and  he  pos- 
sessed that  rarest  of  all  gifts,  the  art  of  conversation. 

"In  his  frequent  lectures  against  Brahman  fetichism,  and  in  favour  of  the 
movement  which  he  called  the  Xew  Dispensation,  he  kept  his  audiences,  com- 
posed of  Europeans  and  educated  natives,  spell-bound.  He  was  versatile 
e,  and  could  discuss  any  subject,  showing  a  keen  and  penetrating 
understanding  in  all  his  view-. 

'•  A>  with  most  of  the  educated  Hindus,  Shakespeare  was  his  favourite  topic, 
and  in  that  subject  he  was  a  perfect  master.  I  have  greatly  benefited  in 
frequent  conversations  by  his  transcendental  expositions,  and  looked  with 
pleasure  into  his  inspiring  eloquent  eyes,  which  sparkled  with  Oriental 
enthusiasm.  In  religion  he  was  more  Christian  than  Brahman,  and  although 
father-in-law  of  the  Maharajah  of  Cuch  Behar,  one  of  the  most  intelligent, 
charming,  and  enlightened  Princes  in  India,  *  *  he  (Keshub  Chunder  Sen) 
still  adhered  to  the  customs  of  his  Hindu  fellow  citizens  in  dress,  mode  of  life, 
I  domestic  matters.     *    *    *    In  the  midst  of  his  triumphs  he  was  called 

the  great  field  of  rest,  where  we  all  one  day  have  to  go.  We  shall  see  him 
and   1   presume  hi->  mortal  body  was  given  ever  to  that  dismal  spot 

(in  the  Granges  where  it  wa-  burnt  With  Sandal-WOOd,  and    where    his    relatives 

1  1  to  light  the  pile,  and  do  the  last  honour  to  his  remains.  How  many 
thousands  must  haw-  been  within  the  sombre  lofty  walls!  How  many 
hundre  Is  of  thousands  must  have  wept  and  sorrowed  that  day  over  their  loss ! 

I  icy  may  well  we  p,  i  >r  with  him  departed  the   best   and    truest   friend    the 
native    Indian   ever  had,   and  the  staunchest  adherent  of  the  English  Crown. 

I I  a  of  England  knew  this  well,  and  sent  him  a  volume  of  the   Prince 
I          it's  life,   with  her  picture  and  autograph  attached.     Peace  to  his  ashes, 

at  and  good  man.  ami  pushed   India  a  century  ahead." 

Perhaps  none  oi  these  testimonies  which  we  have  with 
pleasure  quoted,  is  more  eloquent,  true,  or  more  carefully 
prepared    than   that  oi   the  Hon,  II.. J.   Reynolds,  Vice- 


THE   HON.    H.   J.   REYNOLDS.  57 

Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Calcutta.  In  the  annual 
address  delivered  to  the  Senate  and  Graduates  of  the 
University  at  a  Convocation  for  conferring  degrees,  the 
learned  Vice-Chancellor  pointed  to  the  rising  generation 
of  Hindu  scholars  the  life  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as 
the  "  illustrious  example  of  that  culture  which  it  is  the 
aim  of  the  University  to  foster." 

"  We  meet  now  and  then,"  he  said   "  with  a  man,  in  whose  character  the 
various  elements  are  so  genially  mixed,  that,  while  the  powers  of  a  capacious 
intellect  are   cultivated   to  their  fullest  development,  the  soul  remains  as  pure 
as  the  soul  of  a  child,  and  the   heart   as   tender   as   the   heart   of  a   woman. 
When   such  a  man  has  the  divine  faculty  of  impi-essing  others  with  the  great 
truths   which   permeate   his  own  soul,   he  becomes  a  leader  of  men,  and  his 
appearance  inaugurates  a  new  era  in  the  spiritual   and   mental  history  of  the 
world.     Such  was   Sakyamuni,   probably   the    greatest  man  whom  this  coun- 
try has   ever  produced.     But    Sakyamuni,  you  will   perhaps  say,   is  a  semi- 
mvthical   personage ;    his    age  is   too    far    removed    from    ours ;    the    con- 
ditions  of  modern  life   are   different ;  to  us  of  the  present  day  he  is  little 
more    than    an    abstraction    and    a   name.       Well — this    country   has    pro- 
duced,   in   the   present  century,  a  man  cast  in  a  very  similar   mould,  a  man 
who  has  lived  and  worked  among  us,   whose     features   were    familiar    to 
us    all,    and    whose    words  are   still   fresh  in   the     memory   of  many  who 
are  present  to-day.     I  will  not  attempt  to  determine  the  exact  rank  which 
history  will  assign  to  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  the  noble  band  of  thinkers, 
reformers,  and  philanthropists.     The  full  measure  of  his  greatness  we  of  the 
present  generation  are  perhaps  unable  to  appreciate  ;  just  as  a  traveller,  standing 
at  some  mountain's  foot,  cannot  truly  estimate  the  height  of  the  eminence 
which  towers  above  him.     On   this   point,    the   next   age   will   form   a  more 
accurate  judgment  than  is  possible  now.     But  I  think  we  shall  not  err  in  say- 
ing  that  when   the   verdict  of  posterity   is  passed  upon  the  life  and  work  of 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  four  characteristics  in  his  career  will  be  marked  out 
for  prominent  notice.     First,   the  marvellous  harmony  with  which  his  mind 
united  some  of  the  noblest  products  of  Western  culture  and  civilization,  with 
the  depth  and  thoughtfulness  of  the  Oriental  intellect.     Secondly,  the  just 
proportion  which  his  temperament  maintained  between  the  domain  of  thought 

8 


58  TESTIMONIES    IN    MEMORIAM. 

and  the  sphere  of  action.     Penetrated  as  he  was  with  the  spirit  of  devotional 
religion,   he  was  yet  no  visionary  mystic,  his  periods  of  seclusion  and  medita- 
tion  were  but  intervals  in  which  he  gathered   inward  strength  for  the  active 
prosecution   of  the   work    to    which  his  energies  and  his  life  were  devoted. 
Thirdly,  the  catholic  spirit  which  led  him  to  recognise  the   germs  of  truth  in 
all  religion-  systems,  and  to  assimilate  the  loftiest  and  most  ennobling  princi- 
ples of  them  all.     Fourthly,    the   generous  and  large-hearted  charity  which 
made  Iris  career  a  crusade  against  all   forms  of  ignorance,  oppression,  and 
wnmg.     The  amelioration  of  suffering,    the  extension  of  education,    the   ad- 
vocacy of  temperance,   the  discouragement  of  child-marriage,  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  Hindu  widow — these  were  the  practical  aims  by  which  he  sought 
to  tighten   the  burdens  and  elevate  the  condition  of  those  around  him,  no  less 
than   by  the  speculative  truths  of  the  pure  and  lofty  theism  which  he  taught. 
I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  this  topic,   partly  because,   in  such  an  as- 
ably  as  this,   it   is  natural  to  refer  to  so  momentous  an  event  as  the  death 
of  one  of  India's  noblest  sons,   and  also  because  the   subject  is  one   which 
seems   to   me  not  inappropriate   to  the  occasion  which  has  called  us  together 
to-day.     For,  though  much  of  Keshub   (Thunder's  greatness  was  peculiarly 
his  own,    the  distinctive  character   of  his  teaching  was  largely  influenced  by 
hi^  education  and  training.     It  is  a  rare  thing  for  a  great   religious  reformer 
to  be  a  tolerant   man.     A  religious  reformer  must  be  thoroughly  in  earnest, 
and  a  thoroughly  earnest  man,  from  the  depth  of  his  own   convictions,    is   apt 
!      be   impatient   with   those   who  differ  from  him,  and  to  be  blind  to  the  me- 
rits of  any  other  system   than  his  own.    The  breadth  of  view  which  dis- 
tinguished Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  the  catholicity  of  mind  which  gave  him  car- 
i.  ttness  without  intolerance,  and  faith  without  dogmatism,  was  due  (if  I  mis- 
take not)  to  his  study  of  history,  to  his  knowledge  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
other  theological  systems,  to  his  acquaintance   with   the  phenomena  of  reli- 
gious thought  in  other  ages  and  other  countries.    He  was  an  illustrious  ex- 
ample of  that  culture  which  it  is  the  aim  and  the  end  of  this  University  to 
:er,  the  development  of  the  Eastern  mind  through  the  science  and  litera- 
ture of  the  West.     And  there  is  another  reason  why,  before  such  an  audience 
■    L hi  re  to-day,  1  should  speak  of  the  great  man  whom   India  has 
i    '.    The  life  oi  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  i>  a  pledge  and  an  assurance  that 
i'   evidence  has  yet  a  gi  tiny  in  store  tor  this  land.      The  age  and  the 

i    mtiy  which  have  produced  such  a  man  may  well  look  forward  with  hope- 
do]  anticipation  to  the  next  scene  of  the  drama  in  which  he  played  so  dis* 


THE   HON.   H.   J.    REYNOLDS.  59 

languished  a  part.  But  it  is  not  enough  merely  to  wait  and  to  hope.  It  re- 
mains for  you,  the  students  of  this  generation,  to  follow  in  his  footsteps,  to 
complete  his  work,  to  show  yourselves  worthy  to  be  called  his  fellow-country- 
men. 

These  testimonies  could  be  continued  to  much  greater 
length,  and  there  is  some  temptation  to  do  so.  But 
we  forbear.  Those  quoted  are  as  far  as  possible  typical. 
They  are  from  the  most  diverse  sources,  and  are  delivered 
from  the  most  diverse  points  of  view.  They  unite  only 
in  pointing  out  the  transcendent  worth  of  the  character 
to  which  they  bear  tribute.  They  encourage  the  present 
writer  in  expressing  fully  his  own  observations  and  ex- 
periences of  the  life  and  principles  of  one  with  whom 
he  has  been  associated  as  a  friend,  a  colleague,  and  a 
follower  almost  all  the  days  of  his  life. 


60  LIFE    OF  KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEX. 


CHAPTER     I. 

KESHUB'S  ANCESTRAL  VILLAGE  GARIFA,  AND  THE 

SENS  OF  GARIFA. 


HE  great  Ganges  loses  her  traditional  sacredness 
'  as  she  travels  across  the  north  of  Bengal  in  quest  of 
the  eastern  sea.  The  mother  of  faithful  Hindus,  the 
giver  of  all  sanctities  both  to  the  living  and  dead,  the 
source  of  all  bounties,  streaming  with  oblations,  flowers, 
and  twinkling  lamps,  the  divine  river,  descended  from  the 
dissevered  locks  of  the  god  of  the  eternal  Himalayas,  loses 
her  spiritual  potency  somewhere  above  Murshidabad,  the 
capital  of  the  Musalman  who  ruled  the  land  with  a  rod 
of  iron.  But  the  saving  property  of  mother  Ganga  is 
not  lost  for  ever.  It  is  transmitted  into  the  fabled 
Bhagirathi  of  Puranic  origin,  profanely  called  Hughly 
by  foreign  invaders.  The  Bhagirathi  or  Hughly  hence- 
forth becomes  the  adored  of  the  faithful.  The  Hughly 
is  a  beautiful  romantic  stream.  Cities,  towns,  and 
prosperous  villages  skirt  its  sides,  each  with  a  history 
of  its  own,  some  with  legendary  associations,  equal,  in 
poetic  pathos,  to  the  celebrated  sites  on  the  haunted 
banks  of  the  Rhine  in  Vaterland.  Trees,  tall  grasses, 
and  fantastic  creepers  weave  themselves  on  the  high 
white  sandy  beach  of  the  Hughly.  Boats  and  barges, 
of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  float  on  her  breezy  bosom.  Bonus 
and  bleaching  skulls  strew  her  silvery  sands  ;  worship, 
offerings,  incense  fill  the  banks  with  fragrance.  Sonorous 
recitals   of  sacred    Sanskrit   by   pious    Brahmins;    the 


keshub's  ancestral  village.  6 1 

tinkling  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments  on  the  persons  of 
veiled  women  who  come  in  crowds  to  bathe  ;  the  chorus 
of  pilgrims,  and  the  merry  noise  of  children  spread  music 
over  the  placid  water.  Who  among  us  in  Bengal  has 
not  sailed  in  a  budgerow  with  some  marriage  procession 
for  the  bride's  village,  where  on  the  riverside  the  ex- 
pectant host  stood  with  many  men,  with  bright  lanterns, 
with  the  sounding  music  of  tomtoms,  and  tambourines, 
to  give  us  the  greeting  of  honour  ?  "Who  again  among 
us  has  not  followed  the  sad  procession  after  some  dear 
one's  death  to  the  river,  seen  the  red  unearthly  glare  of 
the  funeral  pyre  swaying  in  the  gusty  wind,  bathed  at 
last  at  the  old  familiar  ghat,  when  the  melancholy  rites 
were  at  an  end,  and  returned  home  with  a  strange 
exhaustion,  a  mysterious  vacancy  of  dimly  realized  loss  ? 
The  river  Hughly,  thus  associated  in  a  hundred  re- 
membrances with  the  Hindu's  heart,  is  a  rippling, 
sunshiny,  perpetual  stream,  and  Keshub's  ancestral  vil- 
lage of  Garifa  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Hughly.  It  is  at  the  distance  of  about  twenty- 
four  miles  from  Calcutta.  In  our  early  days  it  was  uni- 
versally called  Garpay.  In  epistolary  and  literary  court- 
esy it  was  sometimes  styled  Gouriffa.  During  the  last  de- 
cade, however,  it  has  unexpectedly  developed  into  Gourt- 
pore.  The  irrepressible  generation  of  jute  screwers  and 
gunny  weavers  who  have  seized  the  sweet  little  village, 
have  invested  it  with  that  vulgar  euphemism.  The  village 
can  now  boast  of  tall  double  chimneys  (which  do  not 
consume  their  own  smoke),  plenty  of  coal  dust,  grog- 
shops for   the  poor,  inconvenience  and  exposure  for  the 


62  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

better  classes,  a  railway  bridge  that  has  just  gone 
through  its  completion,  holding  in  prospect  the  endless 
steam  whistles,  the  eternal  clash,  and  sooty  abominations 
of  the  locomotive  engine.  Our  ancestral  homes  are  in 
ruins,  the  gardens  overrun  with  jungle,  the  lakes  choked 
with  weeds,  our  friends  and  relatives  nearly  all  dead,  or 
dispersed.  It  is  the  very  reverse  of  what  it  was  in  our 
boyhood,  when  there  was  no  epidemic  fever,  no  dram- 
drinking,  no  jute  screwing,  and  no  steam  whistles. 
And  we  watched  from  our  house-tops  the  great  white 
concave  sails  in  the  river,  and  the  evening  sun  declining 
behind  the  high  steeples  of  the  Bandel  Church,  and 
the  Saracenic  Emambara  just  across  the  water  in  the 
ancient  town  of  Hughly.  In  latter  years  Keshub  did 
not  profess  much  love  for  the  village  ;  and  he  pleaded 
his  justification  in  the  fact  that  he  was  not  born  in 
Garifa,  but  in  Calcutta.  But  some  of  the  most  pleasant 
recollections  of  his  boyhood,  with  which  the  writer's 
own  are  so  closely  knit,  always  carried  us  back  to 
the  gardens,  lakes,  summer  twilights,  and  river-side 
scenes  of  Garifa,  changed  from  its  simplicity  like  Gold- 
smith's Auburn.  After  Keshub's  death,  the  people  came 
forward  with  a  touching  testimony  of  their  relationship 
to  him.  Perhaps  the  place  will  always  claim  some  pro- 
minence as  Keshub's  ancestral  seat,  and  it  will  be 
necessary  now  and  then  to  refer  to  it  in  the  early  parts 
of  the  life  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 

Keshub's  family  claims  a  long  and  illustrious  descent. 
Every  student  of  the  History  of  Bengal  is  Familiar  with 
the   ancient   dynast)-   known  as  the  Sena  Raj  as.     With 


THE   SENS    OF   GARIFA.  63 

hoary  antiquity  on  their  heads,  emerging  in  fitful 
glimpses  in  Greek,  Budhistic,  and  Mahomedan  history, 
these  Sens  are  semi-mythological  potentates  who  or- 
namented the  Hindu  periods  of  the  ancient  history  of 
India.  The  most  trustworthy  representatives  of  their 
race  perhaps  were  Ballal  Sen  and  Lakhshman  Sen  who 
ruled  in  East  Bengal  during  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
the  Pathans  under  Bakhtear  Khilji  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  All  these  Sens  were  by  caste  Vaidyas,  of 
whose  sovereignty,  we  are  told,  the  Ain-i-Akbari  makes 
mention.  The  meaning  of  the  word  Vaidya  is  one 
versed  in  the  science  of  medicine.  All  those  who  be- 
longed to  this  caste  were  professional  medical  men 
skilled  both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  healing,  men 
who  devoted  their  whole  existence  to  the  study  and  pur- 
suit of  their  profession.  That  the  Vaidyas  do  not  possess 
a  corresponding  caste  in  any  remote  province  outside 
Bengal,  proves  that  they  cannot  be  identified  with  any 
of  the  three  chief  traditional  castes  of  Brahmans,  Vai- 
syas,  and  Kshetryas.  But  on  the  other  hand  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Vaidyas  constitute  the  second  caste  in 
Bengal,  where  Brahmans  are  abundant  but  scarcely  any 
legitimate  successors  of  the  Vaisyas,  and  Kshetryas 
are  found.  The  Vaidyas  are  originally  traced  to  a 
Brahmin  father,  and  a  Vaisya  mother,  intermarriages  be- 
tween the  two  castes  having  been  frequent  in  early 
times.  It  is  the  Vaidyas  who  of  all  non-Brahmin  castes 
in  Bengal  are  privileged  to  be  invested  with  the  sacred 
thread  according  to  Vedic  rites.  Of  all  non-Brahman 
castes  it  is  the  Vaidyas  who   are  privileged  to  acquire 


64  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  sacred  knowledge  of  the  Vedas,  and  the  other  Hin- 
du Shasters.  Vaidyas  are  known  and  recognized  in 
some  places  as  authorized  Gurus,  or  spiritual  preceptors, 
having  even  Brahmans  as  their  disciples  and  followers. 
It  was  a  Vaidya  king,  Adisur  by  name,  who  imported 
the  highest  orders  of  Brahmans  from  Kanouj,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  tenth  century,  and  their  high  caste  Sudra 
servants,  now  known  as  Kyasthas.  A  great  many  of  the 
most  learned  medical  works  in  Sanskrit  were  written  by 
the  learned  members  of  this  superior  Vaidya  caste  which 
is  always  distinguished  by  a  high  spirit  of  independence 
and  self-reliance.  No  Vaidya  up  to  this  time  has  been 
known  in  these  provinces  to  serve  in  a  menial  capacity, 
though  even  Brahmans  have  very  frequently  stooped  to 
that  kind  of  service.  The  caste  is  remarkable  for  its  in- 
telligence, literary  activity,  and  social  position.  No 
reasonable  doubt  can  therefore  be  entertained  that  im- 
mediately next  to  the  traditional  supremacy  of  the  Brah- 
mans the  caste  that  is  most  influential  and  intellectual  in 
Bengal  is  the  Vaidya  caste.  The  Sens  of  Garifa  claim 
their  descent  from  this  regal  and  high-placed  caste,  and 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  is  the  lineal  successor  of  the 
Sens  of  Garifa. 


KESIIUB'S   IMMEDIATE  ANCESTORS.  65 


CHAPTER  II. 
KESHUB'S  IMMEDIATE  ANCESTORS. 

/l  BOUT  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century  there  was 
living  in  the  little  village  of  Garifa  an  honest,  hard- 
working, penurious,  middle-aged  man  known  as  Gokul 
Chandra  Sen  of  the  Vaidya  caste.  He  knew,  like  most 
men  of  his  class,  reading,  writing  and  ciphering.  Report 
says  he  had  even  a  smattering  knowledge  of  the  Persian 
language.  This  is  by  no  means  unlikely,  because  a 
knowledge  of  Persian  was  in  those  days  looked  upon  as 
a  passport  to  respectablity  and  emolument.  But  Gokul 
was  so  poor  that  it  was  with  considerable  difficulty  he 
could  keep  his  place  in  the  caste,  and  in  the  village. 
The  villag'e  elders  in  our  time  often  said  that  he  was  not 
only  devoid  of  the  means  of  buying  paper,  and  writing 
materials,  but  was  not  even  able  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of 
practising  penmanship  on  the  inexpensive  banana  leaf, 
and  had  recourse  consequently  to  the  scattered  foliage 
of  the  banian  tree,  with  shoots  of  the  young  bamboo  for 
his  pens.  This  is  a  sort  of  permanent  stationery  which  in 
those  days  of  simplicity,  nature  gratuitously  gave  to  the 
impecunious  votaries  of  learning.  As  Mahammed  is  said 
to  have  composed  his  Suras  on  shoulder-blades  of  mut- 
ton, so  Gokul  Chandra  Sen  wrote  his  thoughts  on  the 
dry  leaves  of  the  wild  tree.  He  held  a  small  post  of 
some  sort  in  Hughly  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  water, 
and  this  barely  enabled  him  to  support  his  family.  It 
seems,  however,  that  in  the  course  of  time  Gokul  slowly 

9 


66  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CIIUXDER   SEN. 

rose  in  the  favor  of  his  employers,  for  we  find  it  re- 
corded that  his  salary  not  long  after  assumed  the 
figure  of  50  Rs.  a  month.  This  good  man  was  looked 
down  upon  by  the  village  by  reason,  one  might  surmise, 
of  the  close  economy,  made  necessary  by  a  large  family 
with  a  small  income.  But  few  could  form  any  idea  of 
the  illustrious  race  of  descendants  that  would  be  born 
to  him  and  his  humble  wife. 

Gokul   was  the  father  of  three   sons,    Madan,    Ram 
Carnal,  and  Ramdhan,  and  these  brothers  strangely  turn- 
ed the  fortunes  of  the  family.     It  is  but  just  however  to 
point  out  that  Ram  Carnal  was  the  real  architect  of  the 
wealth,  honour,  and  reputation  which  the  Sens  of  Garifa 
came  to  possess  afterwards.     Both  Madan  and  Ramdhan, 
the  eldest  and  youngest  of  the  three  brothers,  reflected  the 
success  and  lustre  of  Ram  Carnal* s  genius.     Ram  Carnal 
Sen,    K<  snub's    grandfather,   was  indeed  a  remarkable 
man.    lie  was  one  of  those  original  powerful   characters 
which   the  contact  of  British   rule  with  Hindu  talents 
and  potencies  developed   in   the  first  era  of  European 
civilization   in    Bengal.     There  were  half  a  dozen  such 
men  reared  in  the  first  half  of  the  present  century,   all- 
enduring',   hard-working  men  with  power  of  will,  intel- 
ligence  and  patience,  upon  whom  the  seeds  of  superior 
Western    example    fell,    and    took    dee])    abiding    root. 
Merchants,   capitalists,  officials,   Landowners,  reformers 
were  thus  raised   up  all  within  fifty  years,  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  great  families,   great  careers,  and  great 
iti'  -  <>t   influence  in  the  country.     Raja  Kam  Mohan 
Roy  was  such  a  man,    and    Kam    Carnal    Sen    was   an- 


KESHUB'S   IMMEDIATE   ANCESTORS.  67 

other.  Ram  Carnal,  though  somewhat  unlike  the  Raja, 
might  be  considered  as  a  more  typical  man  of  the  times. 
He  began  life  as  an  assistant  type-setter  in  the  Asiatic 
Society's  press  with  the  monthly  pay  of  eight  rupees. 
By  his  intelligence  and  integrity,  however,  he  soon  drew 
the  attention  of  his  employers.  Type-setting  has  always 
been  perhaps  the  lowest  and  least  important  occupation 
in  the  temple  of  literary  fame.  Ram  Carnal  Sen  entered 
the  republic  of  letters  through  this  humble  occupation, 
but  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  the  faithful  devotee  of  lite- 
rature. His  early  acquirements  were  not  at  all  consider- 
able. Besides  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  in  his  own 
vernacular,  it  is  said  that  Ram  Carnal  was  taught  a 
little  Sanskrit,  and  was  even  indoctrinated  in  the  mys- 
tery of  the  English  language.  The  village  school- 
master had  the  charge  of  his  education,  but  he  learnt 
English  in  Calcutta.  "  I  studied  English,"  says  Ram 
Carnal  Sen,  "  at  a  school  kept  by  a  Hindu  up  the  river 
where  the  boys  used  to  make  extracts  from  Tutinama 
(a  sort  of  vocabulary  of  easy  sentences)  and  Arabian 
Nights,  which  were  used  as  class-books,  there  being  no 
dictionary  and  grammar."  These  youthful  acquirements 
could  not  have  been  of  a  high  order,  the  more  especially 
as  Ram  Carnal,  on  account  of  the  poverty  of  his  father, 
was  compelled  to  seek  service  at  the  tender  age  of 
seventeen,  in  November  1800.  Four  years  later  we  still 
find  him  employed  at  the  press  with  no  increment  to  his 
humble  salary  of  eight  rupees.  Before  long,  however, 
his  talents  drew  the  attention  of  the  celebrated  orien- 
talist Mr.  H.  H.  Wilson  who  then  resided  in  India,  and 


68  LIFE   OF   KESIIUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

was  connected  with  the  establishment  of  the  RoyalAsiatic 
Society  in  Calcutta.    In  another  four  years  Ram  Camal's 
income  rose  to  twelve  rupees  from  eight,  and  he  was  re- 
moved from  type-setting  to  be  intalled  into  the  clerkship 
of  the  Society.    The  clerkship  led  to  the  Native  Secretary- 
ship, and  Ram  Carnal  rose  from  step  to  step.     Though  at 
first  the  progress  was  very  slight  and  tardy,  the  opportuni- 
ties at  last  came,  and  he,  neither  unwatchful  nor  impatient, 
steadily  ascended  with  every  fluctuation  of  fortune.    From 
being  Secretary  he  came  to  be  a  member  of  the  council 
of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.     Working  hard  and  faith- 
fully as  he  rose,  he  became  at  last  the  mainspring  of  the 
life  and  prosperity  of  the  whole  institution.     His  great 
intellectual  powers,  and  the  masterly  activity  of  his  cha- 
racter had  remained  all  but  undeveloped  under  the  some- 
what barbarous  regime  of  the  rural  pedagogue  at  Garifa, 
but  now  under  the  sunshine  of  favorable  circumstances, 
his  whole  nature  unsealed  its  resources,  and  as  his  place 
and  responsibilities  grew,  his  talents  and  activities  grew 
also.      The  exceptional   advantages  for  mental   culture 
offered  by  a  learned  institution  like  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society  were  seized  with  eagerness  by  Ram  Carnal  Sen. 
I  lis  constant  contact  with  the  books,   manuscripts,  and 
various  documents  of  the  Society,  his  attendance  at  meet- 
ings and  lectures,  opened  before  him  a  vast  held  of  scho- 
larship,   classical    and  modern,  English,  Sanskrit,    and 
Bengali,   and  Ram  Carnal  soon  acquired  a  mastery  over 
various  departments   of  knowledge.      II''    surprised  his 
superiors  by  his  perseverance,  and  the  singular  capabili- 
ties which  he  showed.       But  it  was  to  his  mental  power, 


keshub's  immediate  ancestors.  69 

quite  as  much  as  to  his  moral  excellence,  that  he  owed  his 
subsequent  success.  The  Council  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
consisted  in  those  days  of  English  gentlemen  who  both 
in  official  and  private  life,  represented  the  best  phases  of 
Western  civilization  and  Christian  character.  And  in 
their  constant  intercourse  with  the  Native  Secretary 
they  were  greatly  impressed  with  the  uncommon  intel- 
ligence and  probity  of  the  man  upon  whom  they  had  to 
rely  so  much.  Men  of  talents  and  integrity  were  not  so 
abundant  in  those  days  as  now,  and  Ram  Carnal  Sen's 
exceptional  abilities  were  recognized  by  the  offer  of  the 
Treasurership  of  the  Calcutta  Mint.  This  was  a  posi- 
tion of  almost  unlimited  responsibility  and  prominence. 
And  so  well  did  he  discharge  the  onerous  functions  of 
his  office  that  the  further  honor  of  the  Dewanship  of  the 
Bank  of  Bengal  was  conferred  on  him,  and  Ram  Carnal 
Sen  now  became  one  of  the  great  men  of  Calcutta.  He 
had  an  income  of  2000  Rs.  a  month.  What  a  transition 
from  the  humble  place  of  a  compositor  in  the  Asiatic  So- 
ciety's press  on  8  Rs. !  He  built  a  mansion  in  the  centre 
of  the  town.  Hundreds  of  men  from  all  classes  of 
society  sought  employment  at  his  doors,  and  Dewan 
Ram  Carnal  Sen  rose  to  the  pinnacle  of  worldly  pros- 
perity. 

Worldly  advancement  had  a  double  effect  upon  the 
character  of  Ram  Carnal  Sen.  It  matured  his  mental 
faculties,  and  thus  perfected  his  education.  It  also  ex- 
panded his  heart  towards  every  movement  which  had  for 
its  object  the  good  of  the  country.  Selfishness  had 
never   formed    a   prominent   feature    of   his    character. 


;o  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

Ever  intent  on  furthering  the  interests  of  his  relatives, 
neighbours,  villagemen,  and  caste-men,  the  new  powers 
and  opportunities  he  got,  he  devoted  to  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  public.  This  was  about  the  time  when  the 
great  duty  of  giving  education  to  the  people  of  Bengal 
ommended  itself  to  Government.  The  renewal  of  the 
charter  of  the  East  India  Company  in  1815  was  fertile 
with  the  principles  of  imparting  knowledge  and  en- 
lightenment to  the  subject  population.  The  Hindu 
College  was  opened  in  181 7.  From  its  very  establish- 
ment Ram  Carnal  Sen  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
movement ;  the  School  Book  Society  which  was  estab- 
lished in  18 18  in  Calcutta  with  the  object  of  publishing 
instructive  books  for  the  children  of  Hindu  families  had 
the  same  enthusiastic  sympathy  from  him.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  General  Council  of  Education, 
composed  at  the  time  of  Government  officials  of  the 
highest  distinction.  From  an  early  age  his  love  of  Sans- 
krit was  considerable,  and  when  the  Sanskrit  College 
was  started  in  1824  no  one  was  so  ready  to  help  it  with 
funds  and  personal  exertions  as  Ram  Carnal  Sen.  In 
fa<  l  1)'-  became  the  head  of  the  institution.  In  all  mat- 
ters of  public  education  his  position  became  so  promi- 
nent that  even  the-  Committee  of  the  Doveton  Coll<\  . 
whose  object  was  tin-  education  of  Kuropean  and  Eura- 
sian children,  requested  his  co-operation  which  hewilling- 
1y  gave.  These  literary  engagements  naturally  opened 
his  mind  to  the  necessity  of  offering  facilities  to  his  own 
countryman  to  learn  the  English  Language,  and  to  Eng- 
lishmen to  learn  the  vernacular  of  the  province.     \\ Tith 


KESHUB'S   IMMEDIATE  ANCESTORS.  71 

this  object  he  undertook  to  compile  a  very  voluminous 
dictionary  in  English  and  Bengali.     When  the  diction- 
ary was  completed,  Dr.  Marshman,  the  great  Serampore 
Missionary,  himself  a   celebrated  Bengali  scholar,  said 
about  it  in  the  Friend  of  India   which  he   edited,   "  this 
dictionary  is  the  fullest,  most  valuable  work  of  its  kind 
which  we  possess,   and  will  be  the  most  lasting  monu- 
ment of  Ram  Carnal  Sen's  industry,    zeal,   and  erudi- 
tion.    It  is  perhaps  the  work  by  which  his  name  will  be 
recognized  by  posterity/5      These  various  labours  did 
not,   however,    exhaust   the  energy  of  this  remarkable 
man.     We   find    Ram  Carnal  Sen  a  most  useful  Native 
member  of  the  District  Charitable  Society,  whose  noble 
and  long-continued    operations    to    help    the  distress- 
ed  of  all   classes    and    conditions    of  the    community 
have  made  it  deservedly  famous.     His  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject  of    charity    were    remarkable   for   a   Hindu,    and 
in  great  advance  of  the  times.     He  spoke  of  "  the  evil 
effects  of  indiscriminate  largesses,  and  the  painful  weari- 
ness and  contagion  of  diseases,  the  loss  even  of  life,  to 
which  crowds  of  squalid  mendicants  are  exposed,  who 
gather  together  from  distant  parts  on  occasions  of  the 
deaths  of  the  relatives  of  wealthy  men/'     He  took  an 
active  part  also  in  the  Committee  of  Enquiry  which  Go- 
vernment appointed  to   ascertain  the  state  of  medical 
education   in  the  country,  and  his  views  on  the  subject 
were  so  important  that   the  utmost   attention  was  paid 
to  them  when  the  formation  of  the  Fever  Hospital  in  Cal- 
cutta was  determined  upon.     Ram  Carnal  Sen's  ideas 
and  suggestions   on  the  Sanitation  and  improvement  of 


LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEX. 

the  town  of  Calcutta,  expressed  half  a  century  ago,  would 
do  credit  to  any  municipal  reformer  and  patriot  of  the 
present  day.  Thus,  in  many  capacities  and  under  vari- 
ous conditions  of  responsibility,  Ram  Carnal  Sen  wrorked 
incessantly  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  gained  universal 
respect  and  esteem,  and  Europeans  and  Natives  vied 
with  each  other  in  giving  him  honor.  His  genius  and 
his  labours  prefigured  the  catholic  many-sided  career  of 
his  illustrious  grandson. 

Of  his  religious  views  we  do  not  know  much.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Ram  Carnal  Sen  was  a  sincere  believer 
in  the  principles  of  the  Vaishnava  sect  to  which  all 
his  ancestors  belonged.  But  he  was  not  only  ortho- 
dox, he  was  positively  ascetic  in  his  habits.  His 
power  of  work  was  enormous.  He  worked  the  whole 
hot  live-long  day  with  no  more  food  than  a  cup  of 
t,  and  an  unsubstantial  native  sweetmeat  known  as 
////.  In  the  evening",  after  returning  from  his  varied 
labours  he  cooked  and  ate  his  solitary  meal.  That  he 
w  a  j  not  tied  down  to  the  superstitions  of  his  hereditary 
creed,  and  his  spirit  at  times  spontaneously  rose  to  the 
heights  of  the  simple  religion  of  nature  we  have  good  rea- 
sons to  believe.  Some  years  ago  in  turning  over  the  old 
family  papers  with  Keshub,  we  lighted  upon  a  number 
of  beautiful  Bengali  prayers  in  manuscript,  all  written 
in  a  scrupulously  neat  hand  by  Ram  Carnal  Sen.  The 
devotions  were  intended  for  familiar  use.  They  were 
adapted  to  different  occasions  of  life,  to  be  said  in  the 
morning  and  evening,  before  meals,  or  when  leaving  for 
distant  journeys.    The  sentiments  were  simple,  devout. 


RAM   CAMAL   SFN.  73 

a  pure  heart-felt  piety  pervaded  them  all.  Ram  Carnal 
Sen  was  the  contemporary  of  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy. 
Though  in  educational  and  other  public  matters  there 
can  be  little  doubt  the  two  men  mutually  sympathized 
and  co-operated,  the  founder  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
found  very  little  sympathy,  perhaps  a  good  deal  of  op- 
position, in  the  principal  work  of  his  life  from  Keshub's 
grandfather.  When  he  died  Keshub  was  a  little  over 
five  years  old,  but  Ram  Carnal  Sen  had  frequent 
occasions  to  watch  and  observe  the  potentialities 
of  his  tiny  descendant.  We  have  repeatedly  heard 
members  of  the  Sen  family  declare  that  the  old  wise 
patriarch  forecast  the  future  of  his  infant  grandson,  and 
said  "  Baso  (the  pet  name  by  which  Keshub  was  called 
in  those  days)  "  would  alone  be  able  to  sustain  the 
family  reputation." 

Ram    Carnal   Sen   left   a    large  number   of    sons    of 
whom  Peary  Mohan    Sen    was  the    second.     Of  Peary 
Mohan  much  cannot   be  written,    because   he   died  at 
the    early    age   of    thirty-four,    only    four   years    after 
the   death   of  his  illustrious  father.     But  all  accounts 
agree  that  he  was  a  most  handsome,  amiable,  and  kind 
hearted  young  man.     The  rich  and   the  poor,   but  spe- 
cially the  poor,   loved  him   with   the  utmost  warmth  of 
cordiality.     He  too  was  a  Vaishnava,    a   sincere  pure- 
minded   man,    whose   generous   dispositions,   and   mild 
simple   ways   won   the  esteem   and   goodwill   of    every 
one.     Amongst  his   many  relatives  and  acquaintances 
he  did  not  leave  an  enemy.     The  dependents  and  ser- 
vants   of    the  family   adored    him  ;    petty-traders,   and 
10 


74  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

humble  individuals  of  various  kinds  poured  into  his 
presence,  when  the  family  largesses  were  denied  them, 
and  his  charities  failed  no  one,  though  he  gave  in  such 
modest  ways  that  few  could  know  the  secrets  of  his 
giving.  Of  his  intellectual  powers  not  much  is  heard, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  he  was  intelligent,  and  refined  in 
his  tastes.  He  was  a  fond  husband,  an  affectionate 
father,  most  loyal  to  his  elder  brother,  and,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  society,  most  pleasant  and  noble-hearted.  Peary 
Mohan  Sen  died  in  1 848,  and  left  three  sons  of  whom 
Keshub  was  the  second.  Keshub  was  only  ten  years 
old  when  his  father  died.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  part 
the  father  had  in  the  education  of  his  sons,  but  judging 
how  very  young  the  latter  were  when  he  died,  that  part 
was  quite  inconsiderable.  Besides  when  Ram  Carnal 
Sen  died,  the  management  of  the  whole  joint-family, 
and  the  education  of  the  children  of  all  the  brothers, 
devolved  not  upon  Peary  Mohan,  but  upon  Hari 
Mohan  Sen,  the  eldest  born,  and  the  natural  head  of 
the  house.  But  if  Keshub's  early  life  was  not  directly 
influenced  by  his  father,  it  was  greatly  influenced  by  his 
mother,  the  young  handsome  widow  of  twenty-five  with 
whom  Peary  Mohan  left  all  the  fatherless  children.  An 
attempt  must  therefore  be  made  to  say  a  few  words 
about  Keshub's  mother. 

It  is  not  our  wish  to  flatter  popular  prejudice  by  tra- 
cing Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  greatness  to  his  mother. 
But  it  must  be  said  that  his  mother  is  an  uncommon 
woman,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  mater- 
nal excellence  was  transmitted   to   the   character   of  the 


keshub's  mother.  75 

son.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  a  Hindu  lady  in  words 
that  will  convey  an  adequate  impression  to  the  Euro  - 
pean  mind.  In  the  first  place  she  is  without  education 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word.  She  may  be  able 
to  read  a  little,  and  now-a-days  she  may  perhaps  write 
a  letter  or  two  ;  she  may  recite  a  sloka,  or  possess  a 
smattering  of  astrology,  but  the  real  orthodox  Hindu 
lady  is  not  learned  in  books.  In  the  second  place  the 
Hindu  lady  has  no  society,  except,  now  and  then,  that 
of  other  ladies  like  herself,  who  meet  her  on  occasions 
of  religious  and  domestic  festivals.  But  then  the  Hindu 
system  of  household  is  the  joint  patriarchical  system  by 
which  many  relatives  live  under  a  common  roof  with 
their  wives  and  children,  so  that  the  ladies  have  plenty 
of  company  in  their  own  homes.  The  Hindu  lady  has 
no  admirers,  no  fashions,  no  dinings  out,  no  shoppings, 
no  opportunity  of  producing  the  least  impression  upon 
the  outside  public.  All  her  work  is  purely  domestic 
work,  plain,  hard,  daily  drudgery,  the  rearing  up  of 
children,  the  cooking  of  meals,  the  cleaning  and  sa- 
nitation of  the  house,  the  preparation  of  preliminaries  for 
the  household  worship,  and  occasions  of  religious  festi- 
val. It  has  been  already  said  that  Keshub's  mother 
had  become  a  widow  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and 
Keshub  himself  was  less  than  eleven  years  old  at 
the  time.  The  Hindu  widow  of  the  higher  castes  has 
to  live  the  life  of  a  perfect  anchorite.  She  is  a  rigid 
vegetarian,  eats  a  single  meal  in  the  day,  fasts  twice  in 
a  month  without  an  atom  of  food  or  drink  even  in  the 
hottest  times  of  the  year,   never  wears   an   ornament, 


76  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

dresses  careless  and  coarsely,  and  devotes  her  life  to 
religious  duties  which  are  her  only  pleasure.  A  great 
many  practise  this  asceticism  as  mere  routine,  some 
follow  it  from  fear  of  public  opinion,  not  a  few  indulge 
in  secret  luxury  and  vice,  but  just  a  handful  take  to  the 
asceticism  out  of  genuine  preference,  and  a  downright 
desire  to  renounce  the  world.  Keshub's  mother  most 
undoubtedly  answers  to  the  last  description. 

Born  of  very  respectable   parents  in  our  own  village 
of  Garifa,   trained  up  according  to  the  strictest  rules 
of  Hindu  seclusion,  Saroda  Sundari  was  married  to  Peary 
Mohan  Sen  when  she  was  not  more  than  nine  or  ten  years 
of  age.     Of  a  fair  complexion,  rather  tall  in  height,  with 
a  figure  well-shaped  and  well-rounded,  with  features 
exquisitely  chiselled,  wearing   over  all  her  handsome- 
ness the  sacred  veil  of  classical  Hindu  modesty,   the 
daughter-in-law  of  the  great  Ram  Carnal  Sen  was  the  cy- 
nosure of  all  eyes  in  the  little  village,   and  the  envy  of 
many  a  girlish  heart.     But   not  for  a  single  day  could 
the   most   captious    of  her    companions    and    relatives 
detect  in  her  a  symptom  of  vanity  or  conceit.     Her 
mother-in-law,  Ram  Camal's  queenly  consort,   was  the 
absolute    mistress    of  the   house ;    the   wife   of  Peary 
Mohan's  elder  brother  was   a  sort  of  crown   princess ; 
next  to  her  came  a  number  of  dowager  daughters,  and 
influential  aunts  ;  and  last  of  all  our  dear  mother   Saro- 
da, who  struggled  in  the  midst  of  a  hopeless  juniority, 
to  the  disadvantages  of  which  she  added  an   uncontroll- 
able  shyness   of  nature,   and   a  scrupulous  self-abnega- 
tion.    It  was  well  she  learnt  the  practice  of  these  virtues 


KESHUB'S   MOTHER.  77 

in  early  age,  and  trained  herself  to  obscurity  and  want 
of  influence.  For  scarcely  had  she  emerged  from  her 
long  minority  when  forlorn  widowhood  claimed  her  for 
its  own,  and  trials,  and  privations,  which  she  could 
never  have  foreseen,  thickened  around  her  from  every 
side.  Her  sons  were  not  old  enough  to  render  her  any 
material  help.  Her  own  relatives  at  Garifa  were  power- 
less to  console  her,  and  she  was  left  all  alone  to  face  the 
indignities  of  a  hostile  world,  and  the  relentless  Hindu 
widowhood  with  no  help  but  the  innate  goodness  of  her 
heart.  So  long  as  prosperity  remained  to  the  family 
of  the  Sens  of  Garifa,  she  was  in  hopes  of  seeing 
better  days.  But  the  decline  of  wealth  and  pres- 
tige soon  showed  itself,  and  upon  no  one  did  the 
ultimate  blow  descend  with  heavier  effect  than  the 
heart  of  the  poor  bereaved  widow.  Amidst  difficulties 
and  sorrows,  however,  which  need  not  be  recounted,  she 
was  never  for  a  single  day  indifferent  to  her  religious 
vows  and  duties.  The  service  of  the  household  god 
was  in  her  charge  ;  the  gurus,  and  the  Brahmins  look- 
ed up  to  her  for  encouragement ;  the  old  servants,  and 
decayed  relatives  hoped  for  consolation  from  her. 
There  is  no  distant  pilgrimage  which,  highly  connect- 
ed as  she  is,  she  has  not  made.  There  is  no  rigorous 
fast  or  vigil  which  she  has  not  practised,  there  is  no  so- 
lemn orthodox  vow  which  she  has  not  taken.  Yet  the 
asceticism  of  her  hard  widowhood  is  sweetened  by  a 
genuine  tenderness  unreservedly  shown  to  all.  Her 
strong  simple  common  sense,  her  wonderful  piety,  and 
gentleness  of  disposition  give  her  an  insight  into  sub- 


78  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

jects  which   are  sealed  to  the  purblind  vision  of  half- 
educated  young  ladies.      Her  unrestricted   sympathies 
have  endeared  her  to  her  orthodox  relations,  as  well  as 
the  members  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     If  this  was  all  her 
character,  perhaps  it  would  not  be  worth  mentioning. 
But  the  singular  thing  about  her  is  that  she  has  har- 
monized her  undoubted  orthodoxy  with  the  advanced 
ideas   and   practices   of  her   great  son.     Her  fondness 
for  Keshub  has  been  always  intense,  and  she  has  taken 
natural  delight  in  his  eminence  and  reputation.     There 
is,  however,  an  invaluable  service  she  has  done  to  his 
movement.     She  has  been  the  pioneer  of  a  lar^e  com- 
munity  of  ladies  who,  though  they  retain  their  place  in 
the   old   national   religion,    heartily   join    the   services, 
hymns,  and  festivals  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     But  no  one 
of  them  has  shown  such  fervor  of  emotion,  such  enthusi- 
asm  for   personal   piety   as    she    has.      The    younger 
generation  of  Brahmos,  the  wives  of  our  missionaries, 
and  many  other  un-idolatrous  ladies  have  had  to  recog- 
nize her  as  their  undoubted  spiritual  superior  even  in 
such  practices  and  precepts  as  are   inculcated  by   the 
New  Dispensation.     She  will  be  considerably  more  than 
sixty  now,  but  her  benign  face  still  wears  the  serene 
sunshine  of  purity  and  womanly  grace.    When  Keshub 
finds  the  recognition  of  his  place  in  the  estimate  of  a 
grateful  posterity,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  virtues  of 
his  good  noble-hearted  mother  will  be  recognized  also. 

There  is  an  awful  calm  about  her  aged  brow  since 
the  death  of  her  great  son.  Her  form  has  not  lost,  but 
gained    in    dignity  by   her   unspeakable   sorrow.      She 


kes hub's  mother.  79 

bears  simple  but  eloquent  testimony  to  Keshub's  worth, 
she  considers  him  hardly  human.  "  Some  divine  be- 
ing" says  she  "  came  to  the  world  through  my  womb. 
I  knew  him  not  while  he  was  with  me.  I  know  him 
now.  How  could  anything  mortal  put  on  the  strange 
beauty  of  smile  which  played  on  my  Keshub's  face 
immediately  after  he  breathed  his  last  ?  That  smile 
was  supernatural.  In  the  fatal  agony  of  the  final  hours, 
he  rested  his  head  on  my  bosom,  and  said  l  Mother,  can 
nothing  cure  my  pain  ?'  '  Thy  pain,  my  child,  is  the 
result  of  my  sins,'  I  cried,  '  the  righteous  son  suffers  for 
the  wretched  parent's  unworthiness.'  *  Say  not  so,  do  not 
say  so,  mother  dear,'  Keshub  exclaimed,  '  know  that  the 
Supreme  Mother  sends  it  all  to  me  for  my  good.' '  When 
she  felt  the  end  approaching,  she  bitterly  grieved  for 
her  sins,  and  said  her  jewel  was  going  to  be  plucked 
from  her  heart.  "  Do  not  say  so,"  Keshub  faintly  cried 
"  Where  can  there  be  another  mother  like  you  ?  Your 
virtues  God  has  given  me.  All  that  I  call  my  own  is 
yours."  So  saying  he  took  the  dust  of  her  feet,  and 
put  it  on  his  head.  Fervent  and  sweet-tempered  in  her 
piety  always,  there  is  a  strange  dignity  and  pathos  in 
her  prayers  now  which  seems  to  be  of  another  world. 
When  she  comes  to  Keshub's  domestic  sanctuary  at 
times,  and  offers  her  sorrowing  devotions,  the  whole 
congregation  is  melted  to  tears,  and  thrilled  into  awe. 
Truthful,  tender,  and  sympathetic  always,  there  is  now 
a  motherly  kindness  about  her  ways  which  few  can  for- 
get. All,  all  who  see  her,  whatever  their  feelings,  what- 
ever their  differences,  find  a  ready  welcome,     Yet  she  is 


80  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

identified  in  love  with  one  only,  from  one  source  she 
draws  her  inspiration  of  goodness,  and  that  is  Keshub, 
her  darling,  departed  son.  She  retains  every  one  of 
her  faculties  unimpaired,  and  enjoys  a  tolerably  good 
health.  Her  surviving  sons  and  daughters  look  upon 
her  with  tender  love  and  honor.  But  in  the  extensive 
community  founded  by  her  son,  she  has  many  sons  and 
daughters  to  whom  she  will  ever  be  an  object  of  rever- 
ence. She  may  live,  may  she  live  for  some  years  yet. 
Her  place  in  the  heart  of  every  one  of  Keshub* s  friends 
is  assured.  Alas,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  her  happi- 
ness is  buried  in  the  past.  But  undying  honor  shall 
belong  to  her  in  all  the  future.  She  would  be  a  singu- 
lar woman  anywhere.  Amongst  the  somewhat  degen- 
erate womanhood  of  Bengal  at  the  present  day,  she 
will  be  long  remembered  by  many  as  truly  a  guardian 
angel. 


KESHUB   AS   A  BOY.  8 1 

CHAPTER     III. 

FOREGLEAMS  AND  FORE  SHADOWS. 
Keshub  as  a  Boy  (1838  to  1852). 

[YESHUB  Chunder  Sen  was  born  on  the  19th  Nov. 
1838,  in  Calcutta.  His  family  and  ours  were  distantly- 
related.  But  his  grandfather  the  great  Ram  Carnal  Sen, 
in  marrying  his  neice  to  Tara  Chand  Mozumdar,  the 
writer's  grandfather,  treated  the  latter  as  his  own  son, 
and  hence  the  two  families  lived  on  terms  of  closer 
intimacy  than  the  actual  relationship  warranted.  We 
all  belonged  to  the  same  village,  though  the  present 
writer  spent  the  first  eight  years  of  his  life  at  Garifa, 
and  Keshub  lived  in  Calcutta  almost  entirely.  But  he 
used  to  come  to  Garifa  with  the  rest  of  the  family  at 
the  times  of  great  ceremonies  and  festivals,  and  thus  we 
met  at  intervals.  The  Sens,  however,  were  so  wealthy, 
distinguished,  powerful  in  our  little  old-fashioned  vil- 
lage, that  an  unapproachable  brilliance  enveloped  their 
old  and  young.  The  men  appearing  in  the  village  at  long 
intervals,  were  treated  by  the  people  like  demigods,  every 
one  flattered  them  excessivly;  and  the  boys,  fair,  well- 
dressed,  and  inaccessible,  seemed  to  have  dropped  out  of 
the  clouds.  They  sometimes  rode  on  handsome  ponies, 
and  this  was  a  wonderful  sight  to  us ;  besides  they 
had  about  them  a  strong  surrounding  of  red-turbanned, 
bearded,  up-country  ruffians  {darwans)y  a  species  of  body- 
guard, upon  whose  faces  we  villagers  dared  not  cast 
our  eyes  for  very  fear.  The  Sens  of  Garifa  were  proud  of 
11 


82  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

their  wealth,  and  fond  of  display.  "  I  was  reared,"  says 
Keshub  "  by  a  wealthy  father  and  grandfather.  Opu- 
lence and  luxury  surrounded  my  childhood,  but  as  I 
grew  up  my  mind  began  to  show  the  spirit  of  natural 
poverty." 

When  the  present  writer  was  taken  to  live,  and  be  edu- 
cated in  Calcutta,  being  not  older  than  nine  years  at  the 
time,  our  house,  and  that  of  the  Sens,  at  Colutolah,  were 
only  a  few  feet  apart,  a.nd  Keshub  and  ourselves 
being  nearly  of  the  same  age,  besides  being  relatives, 
grew  very  friendly.  He  was  a  fair,  calm,  good-look- 
ing boy ;  his  simple  boyish  beauty  was  angelic.  He 
was  somewhat  thin,  though  his  face  was  full,  rather 
square,  but  the  massiveness  of  the  lower  jaws,  a  very 
prominent  feature  of  later  years,  had  not  till  then  deve- 
loped. He  was  exceedingly  mild  and  reserved.  "  The 
spirit  of  natural  poverty,"  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made  before,  was  not  observable  in  his  boyhood.  He 
was  fond  of  fine  clothes,  fine  boxes,  fine  things  of  all 
sorts,  which  he  did  not  like  any  one  to  touch,  or  meddle 
with  in  any  way.  His  intelligence  was  great,  it  was 
varied,  quite  unusual,  in  fact  was  the  chief  feature  of 
his  character  as  a  boy.  He  was  educated  in  the 
Hindu  College,  where  he  took  his  admission  in  1845,  but 
he  had  some  preliminary  teaching  in  the  vernaculars  at 
home.  The  boys  of  the  family  were  taught  by  an  aged 
Brahmin  Guru  Mahashai  (worshipful  preceptor)  whose 
fingers,  too  often  used  in  slapping  and  thumping 
the  boys,  Keshub  described,  "  were  as  thick  as 
plantains,"  and  whose  voice  was  as  hoarse  as  that  of  a 


REMARKABLE   EARLY  INTELLIGENCE.  83 

bull !  The  Hindu  College  was  the  aristocratic  and 
really  good  school  of  those  days.  At  the  annual  exa- 
mination every  year  Keshub  carried  away  a  prize,  and 
sometimes  two,  there  being  only  two  prizes  in  the  class 
the  one  for  English,  and  the  other  for  arithmetic,  in 
both  of  which  he  did  equally  well.  While  he  was  in  the  first 
junior  class  in  1850,  they  presented  to  him  as  the  annual 
prize  such  an  enormous  volume  of  pure  and  mixed  mathe- 
matics, that  thenceforward  Mr.  Sturgeon,  the  fond  old 
teacher,  used  to  call  Keshub  "  the  little  boy  with  the  big 
book/'  He  was  only  twelve  years  then,  somewhat  small 
in  size,  and  timid  for  his  age,  but  in  the  progress  of  his 
studies  his  smartness  was  phenomenal.  Certainly  till 
then  he  showed  no  tendency  to  share  in  the  family  defi- 
ciency in  mathematics.  Keshub  prepared  his  lessons  in- 
dustriously, and  added  patient  labour  to  natural  genius. 
This  habit  of  hard  work  and  systematic  industry  equally 
distinguished  him  at  all  times  of  life.  One  day  his 
mother  missed  him  towards  the  end  of  the  day,  and  after 
the  servants  had  tired  themselves  by  running  in  search 
of  him  everywhere,  little  Keshub  was  found  lying  fast 
asleep  on  the  roof  of  the  topmost  story  of  the  house  with 
a  book  half  open  on  his  breast  ! 

Keshub's  intelligence  showed  itself  in  other  ways  than 
his  readiness  at  lessons.  He  had  a  wonderful  sagacity  in 
making  out  the  secrets  of  men  and  things.  There  used 
to  be  in  those  days  a  magic  play  for  the  entertainment 
of  boys  at  the  Hindu  College  theatre.  It  was  popularly 
called  Gilbert's  play,  Gilbert  being  an  East  Indian  who 
gave  performances  with  a  magic  lantern,  and  feats  of 


84  LIFE    OF  KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEX. 

jugglery.  Keshub  so  fully  mastered  the  juggler's  art 
after  being  once  or  twice  present  on  such  occasions,  that 
he  announced  similar  performances  of  his  own.  For  a 
Bengali  boy  of  thirteen,  totally  ignorant  of  everything 
outside  his  household  and  school  life,  it  required  indeed 
uncommon  shrewdness  to  learn  without  assistance  the 
tricks  of  a  professional  performer  with  the  skill  and 
prestige  of  a  European  training.  A  week  or  so  after 
Gilbert's  play,  Keshub  gave  notice  of  a  magic  perfor- 
mance to  take  place  in  the  family  house  at  Colutolah. 
All  the  boys  of  the  neighbourhood  flocked  in,  the  admis- 
sion fee  wras  four  pice  a-head.  He  procured  an  old 
magic  lantern  from  somewhere,  and  drew  figures  with 
his  own  hands  on  scraps  of  old  newspapers,  turning 
them  into  magic  lantern  slides  with  commendable  skill. 
One  of  these  figures,  we  distinctly  remember,  was  Zeno- 
bia,  Queen  of  Palmyra.  He  cut  wax  candles,  and 
produced  red  handkerchiefs  from  them.  From  a  glass 
tumbler  he  spilt  a  colored  fluid,  and  it  fell  as  a  shower 
of  flowers  upon  the  audience.  He  deliberately  loaded  a 
pistol  with  his  uncle's  gold  watch  in  it,  fired  it,  and 
everybody  instantly  found  the  wratch  hanging  from  the 
neck  of  a  wax-doll  on  the  platform.  He  did  various 
other  things.  He  went  to  the  bazar,  bought  second- 
hand European  clothes,  and  arrayed  himself  in  them 
while  performing ;  he  rubbed  his  face  with  chalk  and 
vermillion,  and  so  cleverly  did  he  go  through  his  part, 
that  on  one  occasion  a  British  rum-distiller,  whose 
factory  was  near  Garifa,  actually  took  him  to  be  a 
journey-man  Italian,  which  Keshub  gave  himself  out 
to  be ! 


DESIRE   OF   LEADERSHIP.  85 

Now  these  and  other  things  made  him  to  us,  boys, 
quite  like  a  prodigy,    and    Keshub  was  perfectly  con- 
scious of  his  own  importance.     Nobody  ventured  to  ap- 
proach to  anything  like  his  confidence  ;  he  never  made 
a  favourite,  or  bosom-friend  of  any  one,  as  we  all  did, 
though  there  were   ever  so   many   candidates  for  that 
honor,  but  he  descanted  generally  on  the  advantages  of 
Friendship.     We  clearly  remember  a  passage  which  he 
used  to   quote   often.     "A   man  without  a  friend"  said 
he  "  was  like  a  world  without  a  sun."     He  seldom  if 
ever  joined   in  an  old  game,  or  one  that  was  started  by 
any  other  boy  and  not  by  himself,  but  as  we  all  played  he 
watched  us  from  a  distance.     If  he  ever  consented  to 
play  with  us,  he  would  generally   devise   a  new  or  un- 
familiar game,   and  reserve  the  chief  part  for  himself. 
Sometimes  he  would  start  a  dispensary,  himself  be  the 
doctor,  and  assign  to  us  the  subordinate  parts  of  apothe- 
caries or  patients.  Sometimes  he  would  set  on  foot  a  post 
office,  make  us  his  dak  runners,  and  himself  sit  grandly 
in  the  office,  with  a  pair  of  green  spectacles  on  his  nose, 
as  the  Post  Master  General  !     We  remember  he  once 
organized  our  party  into  a  European  band.     We  wrap- 
ped our  dhoties  round  our  legs  in  the  form  of  trowsers, 
and  not  having  any  instrument,  we  rigidly  stretched  our 
thumbs  and  forefingers,  and  on  the   skinny  curve  thus 
made,  we  blowed  lustily,  while  Keshub,  who  was  never 
satisfied   with   doing   as    others    did,    produced   an   old 
drum  which  he  put  on  the  back  of  a  little   boy,   and 
headed  the  procession  by  thumping  away  with  all   his 
might.     He  took  great  pleasure  in  making  up  jatras, 


86         LIFE  OF  KESHUB  CHUNDER  SEX. 

the  popular  semi-theatrical  performances  of  Bengal. 
He  was  specially  fond  of  Ram  Jatray  representing  scenes 
from  the  Ramayana,  dressing  up  servants  as  depend- 
ents, monkeys,  and  Cinghalese  monsters,  and  singing 
out  of  a  dilapidated  treatise  composed  by  a  well-known 
popular  poet.  By  and  bye  he  established  juvenile 
classes  for  reading,  writing,  and  recitation,  and  played 
scenes  out  of  Shakespeare's  Hamlet,  but  of  all  this  more 
as  we  proceed. 

If  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  as  a  boy  wras  not  wanting  in 
self-consciousness,  he  was  also  not  wanting  in  self-will. 
The  active  and  passive  powers  of  nature  were  singularly 
blended  in  him.  There  was  no  getting  on  with  Keshub 
if  any  one  chose  to  quarrel  with  him.  We  never  saw 
him  fight  in  right  earnest.  We  remember  he  had  once 
a  bad  quarrel  with  Jogin  his  cousin,  whom,  instead  of 
fisting  as  other  boys  would  do,  he  pinched  all  over 
the  body  with  such  adroitness  and  persistence  that  the 
poor  fellow  roared  out  in  agony,  and  confessed  a 
.  defeat.  This  was  Keshub's  characteristic  mode  of 
fighting.  His  self-will  was  most  quiet,  he  was  never 
noisy  or  demonstrative  when  put  on  his  mettle,  but 
he  was  insatiable  and  indefatigable  in  his  attempts  to 
overthrow  his  opponents.  He  could  be  patient  for  a 
long  time,  but  nothing  satisfied  him  short  of  absolute 
victory.  In  any  case  of  serious  disagreement  we  do 
not  remember  that  he  ever  sued  for  terms  with  his 
adversaries,  but  always  waited  for  them  to  feel  his 
power,  to  come  and  seek  reconciliation,  and  few  could 
hold  out  against  him  to  the  end. 


RELIGIOUS   AND   MORAL   TENDENCIES.  87 

People  have  often  asked  if  Keshub  was  religious 
in  his  boyhood.  There  is  no  hesitation  to  answer 
in  the  negative.  We  remember  him  taking  part  in 
the  juvenile  performance  of  the  Ratha  Jatra  (car 
festival)  and  Kartika  Pujay  but  this  was  entirely  for 
amusement,  there  was  no  purpose  of  worship  in  it. 
He  was  fond  of  bathing  in  the  Ganges,  wearing  a 
full  bunch  of  sacred  thread  scraped  scrupulously 
white,  and  he  daubed  his  body  with  numerous  patches 
of  white  sandal  paint  representing  the  sacred  names. 
But  all  this  was  done,  to  the  best  of  our  recollection, 
more  for  personal  embellishment  than  devotional  feeling. 
To  every  kind  of  personal  cleanliness  he  had  a  natural 
partiality,  and  the  personal  cleanliness  practised  by  him 
had  a  vague  touch  of  religion  in  it.  But  we  do  not  re- 
member any  instance  of  precocious  spirituality  in  him.  If, 
however,  he  was  not  religious,  Keshub  as  a  boy  was  cer- 
tainly very  moral.  Next  to  his  singular  intelligence,  the 
chief  characteristic  of  his  boyhood  was  the  purity  of  his 
moral  nature.  The  moral  condition  of  Bengali  boys  was 
simply  frightful  in  those  days,  and  Keshub  was  verily 
looked  upon  as  a  saint  in  their  midst.  One  could  not  say 
conscientiously  that  there  was  not  a  single  flaw  in  his 
boyish  life,  but  his  virtues  were  so  many,  and  so  con- 
siderable, his  faults  so  few,  and  so  small,  that  to  our 
knowledge  no  other  boy  could  compare  with  him.  He 
was  a  noble  pure-minded  boy,  free  from  falsehood,  free 
from  vice.  He  scorned  to  associate  with  bad  boys. 
They  had  to  simulate  some  of  his  purity  when  they 
approached  him,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  remember  dis- 


88  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN. 

solute  young  rowdies  putting  on  an  absurd  air  of  sanc- 
timoniousness when  they  felt  it  necessary  to  court  his 
favor.  These  persons  he  never  scrupled  to  use  for  his 
purposes,  but  he  always  took  care  to  keep  aloof  from 
them.  Truly  he  was  a  born  king  in  our  boyish  world. 
He  was  nearly  of  the  same  age  as  his  companions,  but 
he  was  in  a  higher  form  of  the  school ;  his  talents, 
everybody  said,  were  high,  so  high  that  we  could  never 
form  any  definite  notion  of  their  altitude ;  in  short  there 
was  that  in  him  which  made  us  regard  him  with  a  sort 
of  fear,  and  we  could  not  but  feel  he  was  our  master.  He 
was  not  wanting  in  kindness  to  his  companions  if  they 
kept  their  distance  ;  he  was  invaribly  mild  and  gentle  ; 
he  had  very  little  of  natural  anger,  and  was  singularly 
free  from  every  kind  of  ill-temper.  But  he  did  not  seem 
to  be  a  warm-hearted  boy,  as  so  many  other  boys  were, 
and  there  was  always  a  strange  reserve  about  his 
manners.  A  great  part  of  it  was  the  effect  of  a  consti- 
tutional shyness,  which  clung  to  him  all  through  life, 
and  nothing  is  so  apt  to  be  mistaken  for  want  of  affec- 
tionateness  as  this,  but  part  of  it  was  also  the  result  of  a 
natural  distrust  in  others.  In  after-life  we  have  sometimes 
heard  him  say  that  he  was  of  a  suspicious  temperament, 
and  that  his  rule  was  to  judge  every  man  bad,  unless  he 
could  prove  himself  otherwise.  Whatever  the  reason 
might  be,  he  was  not  found  to  be  as  frank  as  boys 
generally  are,  and  hence  many  of  his  youthful  acquain- 
tances accused  him  of  vanity  and  conceit.  No  charge, 
however,  could  be  more  unfounded.  He  was  most  loving 
to  his   mother,  to  his  sisters,  and  other  relatives.     Only 


TRUE  TO  HIMSELF.  89 

he  was  not  of  a  forward  disposition,  he  dreaded  to  be 
led  into  evil  by  those  who  came  to  associate  with  him, 
and  he  never  liked  to  commit  himself  before  strangers. 
As  a  boy  he  was  the  pride  of  his  mother's  heart,  the 
delight  of  his  family,  the  ornament  of  his  school,  the 
glory  of  his  village,  and  the  natural  leader  of  his  com- 
panions. His  boyhood  gave  ample  promise  of  what 
he  was  to  be  afterwards.  It  is  strange  to  reflect  how 
his  various  boyish  activities  reproduced  themselves 
repeatedly  in  later  life,  and  never  so  much  as  in  the  last 
years  ;  how  his  dispositions  both  in  their  positive  and 
negative  character,  clung  to  him  in  every  subsequent 
emergency.  He  always  grew,  but  he  never  outgrew  any 
part  of  his  nature.  Throughout  his  life  he  was  singu- 
larly true  to  himself.  Even  the  deficiencies  of  his 
mental  formation,  such  as  they  were,  he  had  neither 
the  art,  nor  the  wish  to  conceal.  Looking  upon  those 
deficiencies  as  peculiarities  of  natural  gifts,  he  faithfully 
tried  to  turn  them  into  virtues  conducive  to  the  success 
of  the  work  of  his  life.  He  was  a  master  in  the  power 
of  self-education.  He  never  wasted  any  gift,  never 
misused  any  faculty,  never  failed  to  make  the  best  of 
any  opportunity  he  ever  got.  With  his  stock  of  talents, 
certainly  abundant,  and  of  a  high  order,  but  by  no 
means  superhuman,  he  entered  into  his  life-work,  and 
so  well  did  he  use  the  good  parts  entrusted  to  him  that 
they  multiplied  a  hundred-fold,  till  his  spiritual  wealth 
enriched  his  land,  and  nation,  and  perhaps  the  whole 
world. 


12 


90  LIFE   OF  KESHUB  CHUNDER   SEN. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ENTHUSIASM  AND  AUSTERITY. 
Keshub  as  a  young  Man  (1852  to  1859). 

J  N  1852  we  find  Keshub  in  the  first  senior  class  of  the 
school  department  of  the  Hindu  College.  His  preco- 
cious intelligence,  of  which  enough  has  been  said,  grew 
with  his  years,  and  his  friends  anticipated  the  most  bril- 
liant academic  career  for  him.  But  a  most  unfortu- 
nate occurrence  marred  these  prospects.  Some  petty 
misunderstanding  between  the  patrons  and  authorities 
of  the  Hindu  College,  led,  about  this  time,  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  rival  school  under  the  name  of  the  Me- 
tropolitan College,  which  soon  became  exceedingly 
fashionable.  It  was  started  by  a  wealthy  and  influential 
family  of  Calcutta  who  made  extensive  outlays  of 
money,  engaged  a  brilliant  staff  of  teachers,  and  went 
from  house  to  house  supplicating  every  Hindu  guardian 
to  send  his  boys  to  the  new  College.  Thus  Keshub's 
uncle  was  induced  to  withdraw  him  from  the  Hindu 
College,  and  transfer  him  most  unwisely  to  the  Metropo- 
litan in  1853.  One  of  the  devices  planned  by  the  ma- 
nagers of  this  institution  to  ensure  its  success  was  to 
flatter  the  self-consciousness  of  the  boys  sent  for  admis- 
sion, by  installing  them  into  higher  forms  than  they 
were  really  fit  for.  Keshub  being  the  scion  of  a  great 
and  wealthy  family,  was  admitted  to  the  highest  class. 
He  was  at  once  introduced  to  the  most  difficult  studies. 


IRREGULARITY  IN  EDUCATION.  9 1 

He  commenced  reading  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Bacon, 
and  other  English  authors  whose  names  indicated  the 
very  loftiest  standard  of  learning  open  to  the  intellect 
of  the  youth  of  Bengal  at  the  time.  In  the  natural 
course  of  things  Keshub  should  have  read  these  books  at 
least  three  years  later.  The  mathematical  and  philoso- 
phical courses  were  equally  difficult.  Now  Keshub's 
intellect  was  so  susceptible  and  elastic  that  it  could 
stand  the  strain  of  the  purely  literary  part  of  this  un- 
natural training,  and  he  made  fair  progress  in  his 
English,  but  the  mathematical  course  proved  too  much 
for  him.  The  result  was  that  he  had  virtually  to  give 
up  mathematics,  a  shortcoming  which  materially 
affected  the  finale  of  his  education.  The  Dutts  of  Wel- 
lington Square,  who  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Metropolitan  College,  had  in 
the  meantime  suffered  serious  reverses  in  business  ;  their 
resources  were  crippled,  the  novelty  of  the  educational 
undertaking  wore  off,  and  the  spirit  of  competition 
consequently  abated.  The  pecuniary  and  other  means 
by  which  the  Government  maintained  the  Hindu  College 
being  practically  unlimited,  the  contest  soon  became  too 
unequal,  and  after  a  brief,  brilliant,  and  extravagant 
career  of  a  few  years,  the  Metropolitan  College  col- 
lapsed. The  boys,  such  as  were  still  fit  for  further 
education,  had  to  be  sent  back  to  the  Hindu  College, 
and  Keshub,  with  some  of  his  friends,  rejoined  the  old 
alma  mater  in  1854.  But  he  did  not  return  the  same 
man.  Indiscreetly  withdrawn  from  earning  and  enjoying 
his  junior  scholarship,  from  studies  most  congenial,  and 


92  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

entirely  under  his  control,  from  a  course  of  education 
to  which  he  had  systematically  grown  from  his  infancy, 
dabbling  with  books  much  beyond  his  normal  capa- 
cities, his  mathematical  faculty  completely  spoiled, 
Keshub  returned  to  the  Hindu  College  very  unlike  his 
former  self.  Henceforth  his  educational  career  was  not 
at  all  brilliant.  He  toiled  at  it  with  all  his  might ;  he 
was  more  than  passable  in  English ;  he  did  tolerably 
well  in  history ;  he  had  a  liking  for  chemistry,  and 
spent  a  lot  of  money  in  buying  a  set  of  apparatus ; 
he  did  very  well  indeed  in  mental  and  moral  philo- 
sophy, but  he  was  at  desperate  odds  in  trigonometry 
and  conic  sections.  He  took  great  pains  to  draw  the 
figures  and  diagrams  (he  had  a  considerable  taste  for 
drawing  of  every  kind)  ;  he  copied  the  formulas  in  his 
neat,  and  beautiful  handwriting  ;  but  his  heart  was  not 
in  the  business  at  all.  He  wrote  long  deprecating 
epistles  to  his  elder  brother  Nobin  Chunder  Sen,  who 
was  stern,  and  never  consented  to  his  desire  of  renoun- 
cing mathematics.  Keshub  was  not  happy  at  this  state 
of  affairs,  and  the  result  of  it  all  proved  to  be  disas- 
trous. When  going  through  the  Senior  Scholarship 
examination  in  1856,  now  corresponding  to  the  First 
Arts,  a  most  untoward  accident  befell  him  which  cast  a 
gloom  upon  the  remaining  years  of  his  college  life. 
On  the  day  when  the  mathematical  questions  were  set, 
one  of  the  professors,  who  was  appointed  to  watch  the 
examinees,  found  him  comparing  papers  with  the  young 
man  that  sat  next  to  him.  It  is  difficult  to  say  with 
whom   the    irregularity   originated,   whether  with    Ke- 


EARLY  STUDY  OF  PHILOSOPHY.  93 

shub,  or  his  neighbour,  but  he  was  most  severely  hand- 
led for  it.  He  was  not  permitted  to  appear  at  the  rest  of 
the  examination  ;  they  threatened  to  rusticate  him  ;  but 
on  urgent  and  influential  remonstrance,  took  him  back 
again.  His  sensitiveness,  naturally  great,  was  most 
deeply  offended,  the  whole  circumstance  depressed  him 
most  seriously,  and  affected  his  mental  development 
ever  afterwards.  Keshub  was  such  a  general  favourite 
that  all  who  knew  him,  his  professors  as  well  as  fellow- 
students,  were  deeply  grieved  at  this  occurrence.  He 
was  still  allowed  to  continue  as  a  general  student,  he 
went  through  the  college  course  for  the  remaining  two 
years,  but  he  entirely  gave  up  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics, and  never  again  went  up  for  further  examina- 
tions. 

Keshub  left  college  in  1858,  but  from  1856  to  1858 
chiefly  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  mental  and  moral 
philosophy.  We  used  to  find  him  calmly  and  gravely 
seated  at  the  College  library  table,  intent  upon  the  papers 
in  his  little  Russia  leather  portfolio,  which  he  carried 
with  him  everywhere.  There  was  a  method  and  gravity 
in  whatever  he  did.  The  accident,  to  which  we  have 
alluded,  was  soon  forgotten,  and  everybody  esteemed 
and  loved  Keshub  as  much  as  ever.  He  was  exceedingly 
attached  to  Mr.  Jones,  the  professor  of  philosophy,  who 
took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  his  progress,  and  gave 
special  attention  to  his  training,  for  all  which  Keshub  was 
looked  upon  by  students  in  general,  as  a  sort  of  youth- 
ful philosopher.  There  was  good  reason  for  his  being 
so  regarded.     If  his  boyhood  was  grave,  his  youth  was 


94  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

austere.  Soon,  and  rather  suddenly,  he  gave  up  the  few 
frivolities  of  his  earlier  years.  He  gave  up  eating  fish 
when  he  was  a  mere  boy.  Being  the  child  of  a  Vaish- 
nava  family  he  never  used  to  eat  meat,  but  he  was  al- 
lowed to  eat  fish.  He  had  an  attack  of  chicken-pox 
when  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old,  and  as  persons 
so  suffering  have  to  give  up  the  use  of  fish  temporarily, 
he  gave  it  up,  and  never  took  to  it  again.  Later  on 
in  1864,  while  making  his  first  missionary  tour  through 
Bombay  and  Madras,  he  tried  to  eat  a  meat  diet  on 
board  the  coasting  steamer  by  which  he  travelled,  but 
it  neither  agreed  with  his  stomach  nor  his  gums,  and 
since  then  he  was  always  a  strict  vegetarian.  During 
the  latter  part  of  his  last  illness,  the  doctors  prescribed 
a  partly  meat  diet  for  him  which  he  took  with  much  reluc- 
tance. He  had  no  great  bigotry  on  the  subject  of  vege- 
tarianism, but  he  held  and  sometimes  expressed  that  in 
his  own  case  eating  meat  would  be  tantamount  to  the 
commission  of  sin,  and  he  discouraged  it  in  others  as 
much  as  he  could.*  But  the  renunciation  of  meat  eating 
was  a  very  small  part  of  his  austerities.  One  of  his 
youthful  pleasures  had  been  to  screech  on  a  shabby  old 
violin  ;  this  he  now  broke  and  threw  away.  He  used  in 
his  younger  days  to  have  a  considerable  preference  for 
card-playing,  which,  about  this  time,  he  not  only  gave  up, 
but  proscribed  as  positively  immoral.     He  could  never 

*  In  the  New  Samhita  written  in  1883  (Laws  for  the  members  of  the  New 
Dispensation)  he  says  "  as  for  meat,  let  those  abstain  who  have  taken  the  vow 
of  poverty  and  simplicity,  and  are  pledged  to  self-denial  with  a  view  to  guard 
themselves  and  their  neighbours  against  carnality." 


AUSTERE  IDEAS  .  95 

sing,  but  always  had  a  positive  passion  for  the  species 
of  musical  entertainments  known  as/afras,  half-dramatic, 
and  half-operatic.  He  would  sit  up  the  whole  night 
with  his  companions  to  watch  these  performances,  chew- 
ing pan-supariy  and  throwing  peices  of  small  coins  to 
the  singers.  But  he  resolutely  set  his  face  against  all 
this  for  the  time. 

Keshub  was  married  in  1856,  on  a  stormy  night  at  a 
village  called  Bali,  about  six  miles  to  the  north  of  Cal- 
cutta, to  an  intelligent  little  girl  not  more  than  nine  or 
ten  years  old.  This  was  a  typical  case  of  Hindu  early 
marriage.  The  marriage  was  of  course  not  his  own 
making.  It  was  arranged  for  him,  according  to  time- 
honored  Hindu  usage,  by  his  guardians,  and  he  mecha- 
nically went  through  the  ceremony  in  filial  obedience, 
as  he  would  go  through  any  other  performance  of 
undoubted  duty  unto  others.  That  he  had  no  great 
enjoyment  of  matrimonial  relations  at  the  time  is  evident 
from  what  he  said  of  his  marriage  many  years  after- 
wards. "  My  honeymoon  '  says  he,  "  was  spent  amid 
austerities  in  the  house  of  the  Lord."  In  fact  the  first 
years  of  his  married  life  were  the  life  of  an  anchorite. 
He  never  associated  with  his  wife,  and  had  very  strong 
notions  against  any  frivolity,  or  even  any  familiarity  with 
one's  wife.  It  was  for  some  time  apprehended  that 
Keshub's  marriage  would  turn  out  to  be  a  mistake.  But 
he  developed  in  his  ideas  of  conjugal  relations  as  he  deve- 
loped in  other  things,  till  in  the  end  his  domestic  life 
became  a  true  model  for  all.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of 
the  Jeevan  Ved   he   describes  his  condition  at  this  time. 


9 6  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

He  was  moody  and  cheerless.  He  seldom  laughed, 
or  even  smiled,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  express  his 
disapprobation  if  he  found  others  laughing  overmuch. 
He  read  certain  Christian  sermons,  notably  those  of 
Blair,  and  Chalmers.  He  privately  wrote  morning  and 
evening  prayers  which  he  read  by  himself  on  the  ter- 
race of  the  house.  He  composed  short  exhortations 
and  words  of  warning  for  passers-by,"  which  he  caused 
to  be  stuck  on  the  house-walls  in  the  neighbourhood. 
In  short  he  brooded  on  his  own  imperfections,  and 
the  imperfections  of  others,  and  the  thoughts  made 
him  most  restless.  He  was  yearning  after  something 
he  knew  not  what,  he  was  passing  through  a  great 
transition.  "  The  house  in  which  I  lived/'  says  he, 
"  and  the  room  in  which  I  slept  were  to  me  like  a 
wilderness,  like  a  grave-yard.  The  noise  of  men 
around  me  I  regarded  as  the  howl  of  wild  beasts. 
Wherever  I  saw  any  evil  done,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  it 
was  the  playground  of  the  demon  of  death.  Amidst  all 
the  wealth  of  the  world  I  was  content  to  wear  coarse 
costume.  True  I  did  not  weep  much,  but  I  did  not  laugh 
at  all.  Such  was  my  state  when  I  got  up  in  the  morning, 
such  was  my  state  when  I  went  to  bed  in  the  night." 
His  elder  brother,  who  was  his  immediate  guardian,  and 
other  members  of  the  family,  took  notice  of  the  change. 
They  tried  to  ridicule  him,  to  argue  him  out  of  it,  and 
failing  in  that,  tried  to  put  him  down  with  a  high  hand. 
But  nothing  availed.  It  seemed  as  if  he  was  under  the 
operation  of  impulses  he  could  not  control,  as  if  the 
hand  of  destiny   was  upon  him,   secretly  shaping   his 


AGE  OF  TWENTY  AND  AGE  OF  FORTY.  97 

character,  and  creating  in  him  the  elementary  principles 
of  the  great  work  which  he  was  so  shortly  to  undertake. 
Those  principles  in  their  first  formation  were  almost 
purely  ethical.  He  matured  his  morality,  before  he 
began  his  religion. 

The  following  contrast  of  Keshub's  personal  appear- 
ance at  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty  was  written  by  us 
during  his  life  time,  and  much  liked  by  him  : — 

He  was  morose,  sad,  and  stem  when  he  was  twenty  years  old.  Novel- 
reading  was  an  abomination  unto  him  though  everybody  around  him  read 
works  of  fiction.  Love-songs  he  abhorred  and  fled  from,  though  all  his 
friends  sang  them.  He  was  constantly  alone.  Few  followed  him,  few  loved 
him.  Pie  was  most  scrupulous  in  spending  his  little  youthful  money,  and 
his  long  youthful  days.  Could  any  one  detect  him  gossiping,  or  laughing, 
or  exchanging  jokes  and  compliments  ?  Neither  did  he  eat  fish  nor  meat. 
He  shunned  the  company  of  his  fond  girlish  wife,  so  much  so  that  she  often 
accused  him  of  hating  her,  and  often  wished  for  her  own  death.  Rigorous 
and  truthful  in  speech,  he  was  a  youth  of  so  few  words  that  his  neighbours 
blamed  him  for  being  a  proud,  contemptuous,  unsociable  young  man.  If 
he  read  much,  and  in  those  days  he  did  read  much,  he  read  austere  books  of 
moral  philosophy,  or  fiery  sermons,  or  hard  intellectual  compositions,  hating 
poetry  and  fiction  alike.  We  remember  him  liking  only  two  poetical  works, 
one  was  Young's  Night  Thoughts,  and  the  other  was  Shakespeare's 
Hamlet.  Both  these  accorded  well  with  his  sombre  moral  temperament. 
He  was  tall,  thin,  lank,  bony.  I  believe  he  sometimes  wept  alone,  but  I 
never  saw  him  weep,  only  his  face  was  sad.  He  took  long  solitary  walks 
on  the  terrace  in  the  darkness  of  night.  He  wrote  secret  prayers  which  he 
read  by  himself,  he  indited  solemn  warnings  for  passers-by,  which  he  stuck 
up  on  the  house  walls.  He  was  a  regular  youthful  John  the  Baptist.  Thus 
did  my  friend  lay  the  rocky  foundations  of  a  pure  character,  when  he  was 
twenty.  Such  was  the  stern,  gaunt,  unattractive  skeleton  he  was  in  those 
days. 

Let  us  take  a  broad  leap  over  twenty  years.  Now  he  is  fat,  florid,  unctu- 
ous, and  past  forty.  Now  he  is  surrounded  by  many  sons  and  daughters, 
friends  and  followers.     So  joyful  is  his  face  that  smiles  and   sunshine  seem 

13 


98  LIFE  OF  KESHUB  CHUNDER   SEN. 

to  he  always  playing  around  him.  So  successful  he  is  that  every  one  seems 
to  obey  him.  He  loves  his  friends  most  tenderly,  and  spends  long  hours  in 
Ulking  and  laughing  with  them.  Honour  and  distinction  have  thrust  their 
alliance  upon  him,  and  the  great  and  wise  frequent  his  fine  house.  He  is 
happy  and  brilliant.  His  communion  with  Heaven  is  daily  so  cheerful  and 
long,  so  charged  with  gladness  and  intense  peace,  that  no  one  can  imagine 
he  could  ever  have  been  unhappy.  His  many  duties  and  much  work  glide 
on  so  smoothly  on  the  tide  of  circumstances  that  no  one  can  think  he  ever 
had  to  make  an  effort  for  doing  what  he  ought  to  do.  His  outward  calmness, 
and  ease,  and  absence  of  struggle  seem  to  have  come  down  upon  him  as  if 
from  the  heavens.  Now  at  forty  he  is  the  emblem  of  cheerful  piety,  glad 
resignation,  successful  devotion,  and  prosperous  service.  Joy  is  his,  and 
love,  and  honour,  and  everything  that  ought  to  make  life  delightful.  People 
imagine  that  they  have  only  to  feel  the  wish,  to  be  like  him.  Those  who 
now  see  how  his  whole  being  has  flowered,  cannot  think  in  what  weeping 
and  sweating,  pain,  solitude  and  poverty  he  sowed  the  seeds  of  a  strict  and 
great  moral  character.  Those  who  look  at  the  fulness,  and  colour,  proportion, 
and  dignity  wherewith  he  is  now  invested,  cannot  dream  of  the  stern  skeleton 
of  rigorous  morality  which  God  has  now  clothed  with  the  tender  blossoms, 
foliage,  and  fruits  of  the  heavenly  religion  of  love.  My  advice  to  both 
the  young  and  old  in  Bengal  is  that  they  must  practise  his  morality,  if  they 
want  to  share  his  peace.  Victory  and  joy  belong  to  character  ;  God  helps 
him  who  saves  his  conscience  in  all  things. 

Not  that  his  morality  at  any  stage  of  its  formation  was 
without  the  influence  of  religion,  but  his  religion,  when 
he  was  a  very  young  man,  was  stern,  stoical,  and  color- 
less like  his  morality.  From  the  very  first  he  believed 
in  the  supreme  necessity  of  prayer.  "  I  did  not  know 
what  the  right  religion  was,  I  did  not  know  what  the 
true  church  was.  Why  or  for  what  I  prayed  I  did 
not  know,  but  in  the  first  glimmer  of  light  that  came 
to  me  I  heard  the  voice  *  Pray,  pray,  without  prayer 
there  is  no  other  way.'  "  He  did  not  see  many  Chris- 
tian teachers  at  the  time,  but  the  two  or  three  he  was 


YOUTHFUL  ACTIVITIES  AND  ORGANIZATIONS.  99 

intimate  with,  were  representative  men.  One  of  them 
was  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Burns,  Domestic  Chaplain  to 
Bishop  Cotton,  a  devout  excellent  young  man  who  read 
the  New  Testament  to  us  from  the  Greek,  translating 
the  text  into  English  as  he  proceeded  with  the  reading. 
Another  was  the  Rev.  J.  Long,  the  veteran  missionary 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  distinguished 
Bengali  scholar,  whose  interest  in  the  youth  of  Calcutta 
at  the  time  was  most  sincere.  The  third  was  no  other 
than  our  old  friend  the  Rev.  C.  H.  A.  Dall,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Unitarian  Mission.  How  much  spiritual  benefit 
Keshub  derived  from  the  acquaintance  of  these  men 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  No  doubt  they  were  helpful  to 
his  progress,  but  the  Christian  influence  they  exercised 
in  the  formation  of  his  character,  was  outwardly 
speaking,  very  intangible.  With  the  aid  of  these 
gentlemen,  and  with  some  of  his  friends,  Keshub 
established  about  this  time  a  literary  society,  call- 
ed the  British  India  Society,  with  the  somewhat  pom- 
pous object  of  "  the  culture  of  literature  and  science." 
Here  religious  subjects  were  sometimes  discussed, 
and  we  all  witnessed  with  a  great  deal  of  amuse- 
ment the  somewhat  furious  passages  of  arms  between 
Mr.  Long  and  Mr.  Dall,  both  of  them  so  recently 
deceased.  Mr.  Long,  who  was  a  Low  Churchman,  square- 
built,  undersized,  red-faced,  and  short-tempered,  tried  in 
a  husky  voice,  and  brief  nervous  sentences  to  silence  his 
heretical  opponent.  Mr.  Dall  was  a  pale,  lank,  long- 
legged  Yankee,  who  in  disjointed,  nasal  vocabulary, 
uttered  sharp  retorts,  and   irritated   his  antagonist   by 


IOO  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

invariably  styling  him  "  Our  Brother  Long  !  "  This 
literary  society  represented  only  a  particle  of  Keshub's 
activity  at  the  time.  It  had  been  preceded  by  a  multitude 
of  classes,  clubs,  and  organizations  of  all  sorts,  which  he 
started  for  the  benefit  of  his  companions.  The  object 
of  all  these  things  was  literary  improvement.  Keshub's 
elder  brother  Nobin  Chunder  Sen,  was  constituted  into 
a  supreme  authority  over  such  institutions.  An  elder 
brother,  in  those  days,  was  credited  with  natural  omni- 
science, and  we  thought  it  was  great  condescension  on  his 
part  to  take  interest  in  us  poor  youngsters.  We  seldom 
saw  Nobin  Babu  in  flesh  and  blood,  he  moved  in  the 
remote  regions  and  upper  stories  of  the  large  family 
mansion,  but  his  criticisms,  and  decisions,  always  in- 
scribed in  blue  ink  on  the  margin  of  our  very  imperfect 
English  compositions,  came  down  upon  us  with  an 
oracular  effect.  Our  seniors,  that  is,  the  older  boys, 
larger  and  stronger  than  ourselves,  but  about  whose 
intellectual  capacity  we  had  exceedingly  low  opinions, 
read  from  Addison's  Spectator,  and  Capt.  Richardson's 
Selections  from  the  British  Poets,  but  the  present  writer 
and  some  of  Keshub's  smaller  cousins,  including  No- 
rendro  Nath  Sen,  the  editor  of  the  Indian  Mirror,  were 
always  relegated  to  the  lower  forms,  to  read  nothing 
better  than  Lamb's  Tales,  and  inferior  poetry.  Keshub, 
who  was  the  presiding  genius,  not  only  arranged  and 
managed  our  studies,  but  always  insisted  on  strict 
propriety,  and  rigid  morals  on  the  part  of  every  one. 
What  exact  effect  all  this  infant  organization  had  upon 
our  minds   it   is  difficult  to  say  at  this  distance  of  time, 


YOUTHFUL  ACTIVITIES   AND   ORGANIZATIONS.  IOI 

but  certainly  it  prepared  the  way  for  more  elaborate 
institutions,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  Colutolah  Even- 
ing School,  established  in  1855.  Young  men  from  conti- 
guous neighbourhoods  were  gathered  together,  and  were 
instructed  in  the  general  branches  of  knowledge.  The 
present  writer  and  other  early  associates  of  Keshub  took 
charge  of  the  teaching,  and  he  was  our  rector,  himself 
teaching  some  of  the  higher  branches  of  English  liter- 
ature. We  always  paid  great  attention  to  moral  teach- 
ing, and  Keshub  now  and  then  spoke  a  few  words  on 
religion.  We  held  grand  annual  exhibitions  for  the 
giving  away  of  prizes  to  the  boys,  and  we  always  tried 
to  secure  some  distinguished  Englishman  to  address  the 
meeting  on  such  occasions.  Another  pursuit  of  the 
time  must  be  noticed.  The  study  of  Shakespeare  was 
the  favourite  fashion  of  the  educated  about  this  time. 
Most  probably  it  originated  with  the  late  Capt.  D.  L. 
Richardson,  a  poet  and  famous  Shakespearean  reader, 
who  took  the  most  leading  part  in  the  education  of 
the  Bengali  youth  of  his  time,  next  only  to  that  of 
David  Hare.  Every  young  man  took  pride  in  being  able 
to  read  Shakespeare  with  emphasis  and  pathos  as  taught 
by  Capt.  Richardson.  But  Keshub  was  content  not  only 
to  read,  but  wanted  to  act,  a  desire  in  which  we  all 
warmly  seconded  him.  We  were  also  supported  by  our 
elder  relatives.  So  a  stage  was  improvised,  cast-away 
European  clothes  were  speedily  procured  from  the  Bazars, 
and  we  painted  our  faces,  and  got  up  our  parts  as  best  as 
we  could.  Keshub  played  Hamlet  most  successfully,  he 
had  the  constitution  of  the  Danish  Prince  by  nature. 


102  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

The  present  writer  took  the  part  of  Laertes,  while  Noren- 
dro  Nath  Sen,  who  had  a  thin  girlish  voice  at  the  time, 
played  Ophelia  very  feelingly.  Considering  our  age  and 
training,  the  performance  was  successful.  We  kept  up 
the  play  from  time  to  time,  till  Keshub's  theatrical 
propensities  developed  into  the  Bidliaba  Bibaha  Natak 
a  little  while  afterwards.  The  Colutolah  Evening 
School  flourished  very  well  for  three  or  four  years,  and 
only  disappeared  to  make  room  for  more  important 
institutions,  but  while  it  was  still  going  on,  out  of  its 
staff  of  teachers,  and  advanced  students,  Keshub  estab- 
lished in  1857  another  Society,  perhaps  the  most  useful 
and  successful  of  all  his  juvenile  organizations.  This  he 
called  the  Goodwill  Fraternity.  It  was  a  purely  religi- 
ous institution,  the  object  of  which  was  both  theological 
and  devotional.  Keshub's  melancholy  humour  found 
a  wholesome  vent  in  reading  and  speaking  before  the 
youthful  fraternity.  He  used  to  speak  from  a  high 
pulpit-like  desk.  Two  of  his  readings  we  most  distinctly 
remember  ;  one  was  Dr.  Chalmers's  discourse  on  En- 
thusiasm, and  the  other  was  Theodore  Parker's  sermon 
on  Inspiration.  Keshub's  whole  nature  was  full  of  an 
intense  hidden  fire  at  the  time,  and  his  mood  accorded 
well  with  the  violent  excitement  of  the  Scotch  divine, 
and  the  fiery  eloquence  of  the  American  iconoclast. 
There  is  a  dreamy  recollection  in  our  mind  of  the  first 
devotional  meeting  we  ever  had  ;  it  was  before  Keshub 
entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  it  was  before  the  Fraternity 
was  established.  One  gloomy  evening  we  met  in  an 
obscure  room  of  the  family  house   at  Colutolah,  some 


THE  GOODWILL  FRATERNITY.  103 

five  or  six  young  men,  all  relatives  and  bosom  friends, 
and  Keshub  was  in  our  midst.     We  closed  the  doors,  and 
in  the  dim  oil  light  each  one  poured  forth  his  innermost 
thoughts  in   sincere  prayer.     A  nameless  solemnity,  a 
thrilling  reverence  filled  every  heart,  the  Eternal  Spirit 
of  God  for  the  first  time  seemed  a  hallowed   presence. 
Keshub  spoke,  and  we  all  wept,    and   ejaculated  aloud. 
Strange   consequences   to    the   land   and   people   have 
followed  from  that  first  devotional  meeting.     All  those 
who  were  present  at  it  have  either  left  or  are  dead.     To 
us   the    sole    survivor,    the   remembrance   is    shadowy, 
revered,  and  awful !     At  the  Goodwill  Fraternity  which 
continued  its  activity  for  full  two  years,  Keshub  often 
preached  extempore  in  English  with  great  enthusiasm. 
Nay  all  his  intelligence,  energy,  and  moral  earnestness 
became    ignited    with    an    ascetic    glow    that    burned 
fiercely  in  him.     Every   young   man    who   heard   him 
became  similarly  excited.     He  drew  men  chiefly  by  his 
enthusiasm.     He  spoke  loud  and  long,  poured  forth  a 
torrent   of  words  and  feelings,  becoming  often   hoarse 
and  exhausted   at  the  end   of  his  discourse.     On   one 
occasion,  we  remember,    Babu   Devendra  Nath  Tagore 
attended  a  meeting  of  the  Goodwill  Fraternity,  and  we 
saw  him  for  the  first  time.     He  was  tall,  princely,  in  the 
full  glory  of  his  health  and  manhood  ;  he  came  attended 
by  liveried  servants,  and  surrounded  by  massive  stalwart 
Brahmos,  who  wore  long  gold  chains,  and  impenetrable 
countenances.     We  who  were  very  young  men,  and  not 
initiated  in   the   Brahmo    Somaj    secrets    at   all,    were 
highly  elated  and    encouraged  by    such   company,  and 


104  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

it  was  an  inducement  to  us   to   follow   with  zeal  our 
religious  career. 

In  1857,  Keshub  quietly  entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj  by- 
signing  the  printed  Covenant  sent  him  for  that  purpose. 
This  was  a  somewhat  private  arrangement.  The  ordi- 
nary usage  for  an  intending  convert  was  to  stand  up 
before  the  pulpit  at  the  end  of  the  monthly  morning 
service,  and  make  a  declaration  of  faith  before  the 
minister  and  congregation.  The  document  was  then 
signed  by  the  candidate  for  initiation,  and  counter- 
signed by  the  Pravarlaka,  or  the  person  who  induced 
him  to  accept  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  But 
in  Keshub's  case,  a  simple  declaration  in  writing  "  ad- 
mitting the  truth  of  the  principles  of  Brahmo  Dharma, 
and  solemnly  avowing  faith  in  them"  was  sufficient. 
He  describes  his  conversion  in  one  of  his  lectures  in 
England,  thus  : — 

"  English  education  unsettled  my  mind,  and  left  a  void  ;  I  had  given  up  idola- 
try, but  had  received  no  positive  system  of  faith  to  replace  it.  And  how 
could  one  live  on  earth  without  a  system  of  positive  religion  ?  At  last  it 
pleased  Providence  to  reveal  Himself  unto  me.  I  had  not  a  single  friend  to 
speak  to  me  of  religion,  God,  and  immortality.  I  was  passing  from  idolatry 
into  utter  worldliness.  Through  Divine  grace,  however,  I  felt  a  longing  for 
something  higher ;  the  consciousness  of  sin  was  awakened  within  me,  sin 
was  realized  in  the  depth  of  my  heart  in  all  its  enormity  and  blackness.  And 
was  there  no  remedy  ?  Should  I  continue  to  bear  life  as  a  burden  ?  Heaven 
said,  'No!  Sinner,  thou  hast  hope  ;"  and  I  looked  upward  and  there  was 
a  clear  revelation  to  me.  I  felt  that  I  was  not  groping  in  the  dark  as  a  help- 
less child,  cast  away  by  his  parents  in  some  dreary  wilderness.  I  felt  that  I 
had  a  Heavenly  Friend  always  near  to  succour  me.  God  Himself  told  me  this  ; 
no  book,  no  teacher  but  God  Himself,  in  the  secret  recesses  of  my  heart. 
God  spoke  to  me  in  unmistakable  language,  and  gave  me  the  secret  of  spiritual 
life,  and  that  was  prayer,  to    which  I  owed  my  conversion.     1  at  once  com- 


ACCOUNT   OF   HIS   CONVERSION.  1 05 

posed  forms  of  prayer  for  every  morning  and  evening,  and  used  them  daily, 
although  I  was  still  a  member  of  no  Church  on  earth,  and  had  no  clear  ap- 
prehension of  God's  character  and  attributes.  I  felt  profoundly  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  in  my  own  experience.  I  grew  in  wisdom,  purity,  and  love.  But 
after  this  I  felt  the  need  of  the  communion  of  friends,  from  whom  I  might  be 
enabled,  in  times  of  difficulty  and  doubt,  to  receive  spiritual  assistance  and 
comfort.  So  I  felt  that  not  only  belief  in  God  was  necessary  but  I  wanted  a 
real  brotherhood  on  earth.  Where  was  this  true  Church  to  be  found  ?  I 
did  not  know.  Well,  I  established  in  my  earlier  days  a  small  fraternity,  in 
my  own  house,  to  which  I  gave  the  somewhat  singular  but  significant  name 
of  'The  Goodwill  Fraternity.'  I  did  not  allow  myself  for  one  moment  to 
harbour  sectarianism,  but  preached  to  my  friends  these  two  doctrines — God 
our  Father,  eveiy  man  our  brother.  When  I  felt  that  I  wanted  a  Church, 
I  found  that  the  exisiting  sects  and  churches  would  not  answer  my  purpose. 
A  small  publication  of  the  Calcutta  Brahmo  Somaj  fell  into  my  hands,  and 
as  I  read  the  chapter  on  '  What  is  Brahmoism  ?'  I  found  that  it  corre- 
sponded exactly  with  the  inner  conviction  of  my  heart,  the  voice  of  God  in  the 
soul.  I  always  felt  that  every  outward  book  must  be  subordinated  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Inner  Spirit, — that  where  God  speaks  through  the  Spirit  in 
man  all  earthly  teachers  must  be  silent,  and  every  man  must  bow  down  and 
accept  in  reverence  what  God  thus  revealed  in  the  soul.  I  at  once  determined 
that  I  would  join  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  or  Indian  Theistic  Church." 

His  mind  had  in  fact  received  the  awakening  knowledge 
of  moral  and  mental  philosophy,  and  his  conversion  had 
more  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  in  it  than  the  purely- 
religious.  "  Philosophy '  says  he  "  first  taught  me 
insight  and  reflection,  and  turned  my  eyes  inward  from 
the  things  of  the  external  world,  so  that  I  began  to  reflect 
on  my  position,  character,  and  destiny."  He  was  a  pretty 
hard  reader  in  those  days.  From  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  till  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  he  read 
regularly  every  day  in  Metcalfe  Hall,  which  is  the 
only  large  public  library  we  have  in  Calcutta.  He  read 
theological  and  metaphysical  works  mostly,  the  history 


100  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

of  philosophy  being  his  delight.     He  read  some  poetry 
such  as  Milton  and  Young,  he  gloried  in  Shakespeare  at 
all  times,  but  he  hated  novels  of  all  kinds.     He  was  an 
intense  admirer  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  and  pored  over 
the  works  of  Victor  Cousin.  He  read  J.  E.  D.  Morell,  and 
M'Cosh;    loved   the   works  of  Theodore   Parker,   Miss 
Cobbe,   and  praised  Emerson.     He  was  a  versatile  and 
voracious  reader  in  those  days.     His  mind  had   already 
formed  the  elementary  conceptions  of  religion  before  he 
knew   anything   of  the   Brahmo    Somaj.      The   fact  is 
that  the  characteristic  doctrines  of  Christianity  of  which 
he   must   have   known    somewhat,   made  no  impression 
upon  him,   and   Hinduism  he  quietly  discarded.      "  In 
utter   helplessness,"    says  he    "  I   threw  myself  at  my 
Father's  feet.    And  at  last  it  pleased  Providence  to  reveal 
the  light  of  truth  to  me  in  a  most  mysterious  manner, 
and  from  that  time  commenced   a  series   of  struggles, 
aspirations,     and    endeavours     which    resulted,    I    am 
happy  to  say,    in  peace,   and  in  the   conversion  of  the 
heart."     There  lived  at  the  time  in  our  neighbourhood 
at  Colutolah  a  Pandit   Rajballav.      He   was  the   chief 
vernacular  tutor  of  a  local  school,  and  being  much  older 
than  any  one  of  us,  and  being  also  a  Sanskrit  scholar, 
he  had  dabbled   in  the  literature  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
Keshub  was   always  fond   of  older  and   more  serious 
men  than  his   own  companions  ;  he  had  frequent  com- 
munions with  Pandit  Rajballav,  and  the  latter  probably 
lent  him  "  the  small  publication  of  the  Calcutta  Brahmo 
Somaj,"  in  which  he  read   the  chapter  "What  is  Brah- 
moism",  and  found  that  inner  correspondence  of  spirit 


THE  FIRST   TRIAL   OF   FAITH.  1 07 

which  he  calls  "  revelation  in  a  mysterious  manner." 
He  signed  the  Brahmo  Somaj  covenant  privately,  when 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore  was  in  the  hills,  but  shortly 
afterwards  the  latter  returned  to  Calcutta,  and  was  much 
pleased  to  hear  of  Keshub's  conversion.  Devendra  had 
always  tried  to  persuade  young  men  of  influential  families 
to  join  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  it  was  an  unexpected 
pleasure  to  him  that  a  member  of  the  orthodox  Sen 
family  had  spontaneously  enlisted  himself  as  a  Brahmo. 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore's  second  son,  Satyendra  Nath 
Tagore,  now  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Bombay 
Civil  Service,  was  Keshub's  fellow-student  in  the  Hindu 
College,  with  whom  he  now  and  then  had  conversa- 
tions, and  through  whom  also  he  communicated  with  his 
illustrious  father.  A  cordial  interest  in  Keshub  thus 
sprang  up  in  the  Pradhan  Acharya's  mind,  and  through 
various  circumstances  the  interest  ripened  into  personal 
affection,  sufficiently  evidenced  by  Devendra  Nath 
Tagore's  visit  to  the  meeting  of  the  Goodwill  Fraternity 
already  alluded  to.  One  of  these  circumstances  was  the 
first  great  moral  struggle  which  his  enlistment  in  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  produced  in  Keshub's  life. 

Keshub  speaks  of  "  struggles  and  endeavours  which 
led  to  the  conversion  of  his  heart."  The  first  trial  which 
he  was  called  upon  to  undergo  was  within  a  year  of  his 
entering  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  family  Guru  paid 
an  occasional  visit  to  the  Sens  at  Colutolah.  The  gtiru, 
we  may  mention  for  the  information  of  our  European 
readers,  is  an  idolatrous  Brahmin  credited  with  high 
and    exceptional  sanctity,    who    holds    the  hereditary 


Io8  LIFE    OF   KESIIUB   CIIUNDER    SEN. 

function  of  directing  the  spiritual  destinies  of  a  Hindu 
family.  He  is  invested  both  with  the  function  and  the 
sanctity  more  by  virtue  of  his  birth,  than  by  actual  at- 
tainment. The  guru  is  often  a  very  bad  man.  But  his 
disciples,  both  male  and  female,  adore  him  as  perfectly 
divine.  He  lives  upon  the  gifts  and  tributes  of  the 
orthodox  families  over  whom  he  presides.  He  cele- 
brates, during  his  periodical  visits,  the  rites  of  in- 
itiation in  religion  over  the  young,  absolution  from  sin 
over  the  old,  and  spiritual  efficacy  over  all.  Dishonour, 
or  indifference  to  him  is  a  mortal  sin.  The  guru  came 
to  the  house  of  the  Sen  family  some  time  in  1858, 
and  a  number  of  young  men  were  marked  for  the 
ceremony  of  initiation.  Keshub,  who  was  one  among 
them,  showed  symptoms  by  which  the  guardians  sus- 
pected he  would  make  trouble  over  the  matter.  But 
they  were  determined  on  the  point,  it  was  a  matter  of 
family  prestige,  and  they  had  decided  that  Keshub  must 
yield.  They  had  not  sufficiently  calculated  upon  the 
power  of  resistance  which  was  in  that  quiet  young 
man.  He  had  indirectly  expressed  his  disinclination 
before  his  mother,  and  felt  that  a  great  crisis  of  faith 
had  come  for  him.  He  had  made  up  his  mind,  but  still 
to  try  the  correctness  of  his  resolution  he  had  called 
upon  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  at  Jorasanko  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  his  opinion.  To  the  honour  of  the 
latter  be  it  said,  that  in  view  of  the  serious  consequences 
which  Keshub' s  refusal  to  accept  the  idolatrous  baptism 
would  surely  cause,  he  declined  to  give  any  direct 
advice,  but  Keshub   nevertheless   felt   what  course  he 


THE   FIRST  TRIAL   OF   FAITH.  1 09 

would  approve.  On  the  next  day  great  preparations 
were  made  at  the  house  of  the  Sens  for  the  initiation. 
Keshub's  cousins  had  all  gone  through  the  cere- 
mony, and  now  it  was  the  young  reformer's  turn.  The 
guardians  assembled  on  the  spot  headed  by  his  uncle, 
the  late  Babu  Hari  Mohan  Sen,  who  was  a  man  of  stern 
and  fiery  temperament,  the  terror  of  the  whole  house- 
hold. Keshub  was  sent  for.  Quiet,  gentle,  and  self- 
possessed,  he  came.  They  put  him  the  fatal  question. 
"  Wilt  thou  accept  the  ceremony  of  initiation  as  the 
other  young  men  have  done  r "  "  No  "  he  replied 
calmly,  but  with  a  firmness  which  was  unmistak- 
able. More  than  once  the  question  was  repeated  with 
increasing  fierceness.  Keshub's  determination  did  not 
shake.  He  was  gentle,  but  immoveable.  The  stalwart 
guardians  of  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Sens  were  baffled, 
Keshub's  quiet  firmness  disarmed  their  violence,  they 
were  defeated  for  the  first  time,  and  they  were  defeated 
ever  afterwards.  Keshub  returned  to  his  room  in  right- 
eous exultation,  wondering  at  his  success.  When  next 
day  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  sent  his  son  to  enquire  into 
the  issue  of  the  dread  contest,  and  received  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  young  Brahmo's  victory  of  faith,  the 
congratulations  which  Keshub  met  from  him  were  the 
first  instalment  of  the  unexampled  friendship  which 
silently  grew  up  between  the  two  men  afterwards. 
Thus  it  was  that  Keshub  scored  his  first  triumph  over 
idolatry  and  persecution.  Such  a  struggle  at  the  present 
day  would  not  amount  to  much.  But  when  it  was  first 
made,  unstimulated  by  any  example,  unbefriended  by 


IIO  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

any  sympathy,  under  circumstances  whose  difficulty  can 
only  be  felt  by  those  who  witnessed  it,  Keshub's  heroic 
resistance  gave  an  earnest  of  the  moral  greatness  he 
was  to  achieve  hereafter. 


THE   BRAHMO   SOMAJ.  HI 


CHAPTER  V. 

ENTAL  AND  MORAL  ACTIVITIES. 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  the  Adi  Brahmo   Somaj 

(1859   TO    1866). 

[YESHUB'S  sombre  self-introspection  burst  into 
'  wholesome  activity,  when  in  April  1859  the  Brahmo 
School  was  established.  It  would  almost  seem  that  he 
entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj  not  to  learn  but  to  teach. 
The  fact  is,  he  had  been  teaching  himself  by  close  study 
and  reflection  for  the  last  three  or  four  years,  and  as  soon 
as  his  association  with  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  took  the 
form  of  practical  sypmathy,  they  concerted  together  a 
plan  of  action  for  the  public  good.  The  plan  in  the  begin- 
ning was  that  Keshub  should  deliver  a  series  of  English 
lectures,  and  Devendra  Nath  a  similar  course  in  the 
vernacular,  the  former  taking  up  the  philosophy  of 
Theism,  and  the  latter  dealing  with  the  doctrines  and 
theology  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  This  Brahmo  School 
was  an  all-important  institution  in  the  history  of  the 
whole  Brahmo  movement.  It  not  only  produced  a  body 
of  intelligent  doctrines,  and  systematized  the  uncertain 
conceptions  of  Brahmo  Theism  on  a  sound  rational  basis 
of  philosophy,  such  as  modern  thought  throughout  the 
world  laid  down  to  be  the  rudiments  of  all  religion,  but 
it  created  a  nucleus  of  well-trained  men  whose  sympathy, 
devotedness,  and  active  co-operation  made  all  future 
progress  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  possible.     About  a  dozen 


112  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CIIUNDER   SEN. 

such  men,  all  in  the  prime  of  youth,  some  of  whom  are 
still  missionaries  of  the  BrahmoSomaj  of  India,  gathered 
at  the  first  meeting  which  took  place  on  the  24th  April 
1859,  in  a  damp  and  dingy  one-storied  house,  where 
the  Colutolah  Evening  School  held  its  classes,  not  far 
from  the  ancestral  residence  of  the  Sens  in  Bhowani 
Charan  Dutt's  Lane,  Colutolah,  Calcutta.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  zeal,  energy,  faith  and  cheerfulness 
with  which  Keshub  set  about  the  work  of  organizing 
his  youthful  adherents  into  the  new  school.  The 
Goodwill  Fraternity  contributed  its  members,  the 
Evening  School  its  teachers  and  senior  pupils  to  that 
object,  and  both  in  the  course  of  time  dissolved  into 
the  higher  purposes  of  the  Brahmo  School.  Devendra 
readily  came,  unmindful  of  surroundings,  and  began 
by  teaching  the  young  men  the  rules  of  the  Sanskrit 
recitation  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  liturgy,  whereby  they 
might  join  the  services  then  held  every  Wednesday 
evening  at  Jorasanko.  The  school,  holding  weekly 
classes  on  Sundays,  was  soon  removed  to  more  respect- 
able quarters  at  Chitpore  Roa^  in  a  grand  buildings 
known  as  Gopal  Mallick's  house,  which  has  been  since 
demolished,  and  thence  to  the  second  floor  rooms 
of  the  Adi  Somaj  at  Jorasanko.  Keshub  in  his  lec- 
tures, delivered  on  every  alternate  Sunday,  poured  forth 
a  torrent  of  metaphysics  and  moral  fervour,  and  De- 
vendra Nath  in  chaste  classical  Bengali  discoursed  on  the 
opinions  and  faith  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  latter 
discourses  have  been  embodied  in  a  useful  treati.se 
called     Brahma     Dhaniur  Mala  o  Biswas,    while    Ke- 


THE   BRAHMO    SCHOOL.  113 

shub  utilized  the  substance  of  his  addresses  in  the  tracts 
which  before  long  he  began  to  publish.  The  school 
held  annual  examinations  and  gave  diplomas  of  merit. 
The  questions  set  were  sometimes  so  difficult  that  a 
professor  of  the  Presidency  College  is  once  said  to 
have  observed  that  any  one  who  could  answer  them 
satisfactorily,  might  be  admitted  to  the  M.  A.  degree 
of  the  Calcutta  University,  without  passing  through  the 
preliminary  examinations.  Perhaps  Keshub's  me- 
taphysics at  the  time  were  not  of  the  maturest  kind,  and 
his  object  was  to  teach  more  by  aspiration,  more  by 
awakening  the  faculties  of  his  youthful  associates,  than 
by  actual  professorship.  And  his  methods  were  emi- 
nently successful.  His  enthusiasm  and  earnestness  bore 
down  every  obstacle,  his  singular  intelligence  kindled  a 
corresponding  glow  in  every  hearer.  Very  imperfectly 
educated  as  we  were,  if  our  understanding  sometimes 
failed  to  grasp  the  import  of  his  teaching,  our  sym- 
pathies supplied  the  deficiency.  Both  the  head  and 
the  heart  were  equally  active.  Thus  for  five  years  the 
Brahmo  School  trained  up  the  youth  of  the  Somaj, 
spreading  religious  knowledge,  and  enlightenment  of 
character. 

In  the  splendid  structure  at  Chitpore  Road,  to  which 
the  Brahmo  School  was  removed  in  1859,  Keshub  found 
a  somewhat  unexpected  occupation.  He  was  entrusted 
with  the  management  of  an  institution  very  different  from 
the  Brahmo  School.  It  was  a  dramatic  club  to  put  on  the 
stage  Bidhava  Bibaha  Natak  (widow- marriage  drama), 
written  with  the  object  of  reforming  the  cruel  custom  of 

15 


114  LIFE   0F   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  forced  celibacy  of  young  Hindu  widows.  By  repeat- 
ed representations  of  Hamlet,  and  other  performances 
half  musical,  half  dramatic,  Keshub  had  developed 
such  a  talent  for  stage  management,  that  the  gentlemen 
who  projected  this  Company,  most  of  them  our  rela- 
tives and  neighbours,  seniors  to  us  in  age,  implicitly 
trusted  Keshub  with  the  sole  charge  of  the  new  under- 
taking. Keshub's  love  for  Shakespeare,  and  for  good 
dramas  in  general,  was  unbounded,  it  was  one  of  those 
dispositions  which  his  early  asceticism  never  wholly 
effaced,  strange  as  that  may  seem,  and  which  adhered  to 
him  till  the  last  day  of  his  life.  He  always  looked  upon 
dramatic  representation  not  only  as  a  most  enlightened 
form  of  public  amusement,  but  also  as  a  most  potent 
agency  for  the  reformation  of  social  evils.  Abste- 
mious in  his  own  personal  habits,  he  never  grudged  to 
the  community  its  legitimate  share  of  rational  recrea- 
tion. Natural  innocent  joyousness  he  held  to  be  the 
safety-valve  of  a  hundred  ill-humours  in  the  human 
mind,  also  as  a  great  force  by  which  an  individual  and  a 
nation  might  be  raised  to  the  most  exalted  ideals.  To 
all  these  motives  was  added  the  intense  sympathy  he  felt 
with  the  cause  of  the  remarriage  of  Hindu  widows. 
Since  the  inauguration  of  the  widow  marriage  reform  in 
1856,  Keshub,  though  then  a  very  young  man,  wished 
well  to  the  cause,  and  did  what  he  could  to  contri- 
bute to  its  success.  He  therefore  cheerfully  accept- 
ed the  management  of  the  Widow  Marriage  Drama. 
Four  institutions  now  ran  abreast  of  each  other  under 
Keshub' s     supervision.     There      was      the     Colutolah 


THE   WIDOW   MARRIAGE   THEATRE.  115 

Evening  School,  the  Goodwill  Fraternity,  the  Brahmo 
School,  and  the  Theatre  at  Chitpore  Road.  As  nearly 
the  same  individuals  comprised  the  staff  of  them  all,  it 
was  sometimes  amusing  and  perplexing  to  hear  the  seve- 
ral bells  ring  almost  simultaneously  for  the  classes  of 
the  first,  the  services  of  the  second,  the  lectures  of  the 
third,  and  the  rehearsals  of  the  fourth !  But  Keshub's 
zeal  and  energy  knew  no  bounds.  He  was  very 
different  in  appearance  then  from  what  he  was  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life.  He  was  thin,  gaunt,  tall,  pale, 
with  vertigo  in  his  head,  and  swellings  about  his  feet. 
He  kept  up  his  strength  by  doses  of  cod-liver  oil,  and 
Port  wine,  medically  prescribed.  But  he  was  tireless  in 
work  and  activity.  His  mechanical  skill  in  the  working 
of  the  stage  rivalled  the  energy  of  his  intellectual  and 
moral  achievements.  The  harmony  of  forces  presented 
itself  in  his  character  so  early  as  that.  The  plot  of 
the  drama  was  the  miserable  life  of  a  Hindu  widow 
shut  up  in  the  Zenana,  who,  in  her  solitary  friendless 
condition,  formed  an  attachment  to  a  young  neighbour, 
by  whom  she  was  led  to  a  course  of  sin.  The  conclu- 
ding scenes  depicted  her  sufferings,  her  suicide,  her 
confessions,  with  appeals  to  all  patriotic  men  to  put 
an  end  to  the  forced  celibacy  of  Hindu  widows.  The 
performance  was  first  opened  to  the  public  in  the 
beginning  of  1859,  and  produced  a  sensation  in 
Calcutta,  which  those  who  witnessed  it  can  never  forget. 
The  representatives  of  the  highest  classes  of  Hindu 
society  were  present.  The  pioneer  and  father  of  the 
widow  marriage   movement  Pundit  Ishwara  Chandra 


I  1 6  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN". 

Vidyasagar  came  more  than  once,  and  tender-hearted 
as  he  is,  was  moved  to  floods  of  tears.  In  fact  there 
was  scarcely  a  dry  eye  in  the  great  audience.  Un- 
doubtedly the  most  wholesome  effect  was  produced. 
Keshub,  as  stage-manager,  was  warmly  complimented 
on  his  energy  and  intelligence,  and  we,  his  friends, 
as  amateur  actors,  who  had  done  our  best,  also 
received  our  humble  share  of  praise.  Though  this  dra- 
matic success  brought  Keshub  a  good  deal  before  the 
public,  in  that  dawn  and  flush  of  his  spiritual  character 
the  occupation  of  a  stage-manager  could  not  but  soon 
grow  uncongenial.  He  and  his  companions  were  often 
thrown  into  heterogenous  company  ;  some  of  the  parts 
played  were  undoubtedly  harmful  in  their  moral  ten- 
dency ;  there  was  inevitable  dissipation,  frivolity,  and 
a  dangerous  love  of  public  applause.  So  before  the 
end  of  the  year  the  theatre  was  given  up  completely, 
and  Keshub  turned  his  attention  to  more  serious  and 
important  subjects. 

Nevertheless  it  was  some  time  before  he  could  wholly 
devote  himself  to  the  great  projects  he  had  been  long 
planning  in  his  restless  mind.  The  rule  for  every  young 
Hindu  was  to  earn  some  income  as  soon  as  he  had  crone 
through  what  was  called  his  education.  And  Keshub's 
guardians,  who  had  not  failed  to  take  early  notice  of 
the  transcendental  dispositions  he  often  manifested, 
were  all  the  more  anxious  to  put  upon  him  the  whole- 
some harness  of  some  hard  routine  work  as  soon  as 
they  could  find  an  opportunity.  So  in  the  midst  of 
the   various    activities    which    surrounded   him  in    1859 


SERVICE   IN   THE   BANK   OF   BENGAL.  I  1 7 

Keshub  was  installed  into  a  clerkship  in  the  Bank  of 
Bengal,  with  the  somewhat  undignified  salary  of  Rs. 
25  per  month.  The  Bank  of  Bengal  and  the  Calcutta 
Mint,  of  which  Keshub's  grandfather  was  the  Native 
head,  formed  a  sort  of  family  preserve  for  the  younger 
generation  of  the  Sens,  their  relatives,  and  castemen. 
No  sooner  a  youthful  Sen,  imperfectly  fledged  for  offi- 
cial flights,  had  finished  his  lessons  at  school,  or  proved 
himself  incapable  of  learning  anything  there,  than  he 
was  drafted  into  the  unexalted  ranks  of  financial  life  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Mint,  or  the  Bank  of  Bengal.  Keshub, 
however,  did  not  refuse  the  humble  post  offered  him. 
He  worked  away  at  it  with  his  characteristic  zeal,  and 
drew  the  attention  of  his  European  superiors.  The 
employes  of  the  Bank  in  those  days,  including  the 
present  writer,  can  never  forget  the  calm,  unimpas- 
sioned,  handsome  face  at  the  left  of  the  Dewan's 
desk,  intent  upon  every  duty,  yet  always  ready  with  a 
smile  of  welcome  or  recognition  to  every  friendly 
fellow-clerk  as  he  passed.  So  well  and  faithfully  did 
Keshub  do  his  work,  that  before  a  twelvemonth  had 
passed  his  salary  was  doubled,  and  his  duties  lay 
immediately  with  the  Deputy  Secretary  Mr.  Cooke. 
His  speedy  exaltation  in  office  now  became  a  certain- 
ty. Yet  the  native  independence  of  character  never 
left  him  for  a  day.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Bank  at  the  time  was  a  Mr.  George  Dickson,  a  colossal, 
autocratic,  irascible  Caledonian,  dreaded  by  everybody. 
He  issued  an  order  one  day  that  every  clerk  must  make 
a  solemn  affirmation  never  to  give  out  before  outsiders 


I  1  8  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

any  information  of  the  Bank's  affairs.  The  order  was 
indefinite,  and  included  all  information,  and  every  fact, 
important  or  otherwise.  As  a  matter  of  course  every- 
body signed,  only  Keshub  refused,  and  the  present 
writer  followed  his  example.  The  Dewan  of  the  Bank 
was  a  relative,  but  he  was  highly  incensed  at  this  act 
of  insubordination.  He  took  us  both  to  Mr.  Dickson's 
room,  a  place  of  awe  to  every  clerk,  a  sort  of  lion's 
den,  and  describing  our  unwillingness  to  sign  the 
affirmation,  retired,  and  left  us  to  our  fate.  Mr.  Dickson 
regarded  us  for  a  moment  with  amused  curiosity,  and 
asked  why  we  had  refused.  Keshub  distinguished  in 
appearance,  courtly  in  manners,  and  fearless  in  bearing, 
at  once  replied  that  he  had  "  conscientious  scruples," 
explaining  that  it  was  impossible  to  work  in  the  Bank, 
and  never  to  talk  of  its  affairs  to  any  one,  at  any 
time.  Struck  with  the  sincerity  of  the  apology,  the 
awful  Mr.  Dickson  unbent  and  smiled,  and  let  us  go 
without  signing  the  affirmation  at  all.  The  Dewan  and 
everybody  else  was  astonished  at  the  result,  and  at 
Keshub's  pluck,  who  became  henceforth  a  greater 
favourite  than  ever.  Thus  the  prospects  of  his  official 
life  steadily  improved,  and  the  Bank  authorities  placed 
increasing  confidence  in  his  capacities.  But  Keshub's 
heart  was  not  in  the  Bank  of  Bengal,  it  was  in  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  in  the  lectures  he  was  giving  to  the 
newly  formed  Brahmo  School,  in  the  tracts  which  lie 
had  begun  to  bring  out  in  rapid  succession  from  1S00. 
The  thought  preyed  upon  his  mind  whether  he  should 
not    throw  up  his  appointment,  and   devote  himself  to 


RENUNCIATION   OF   SECULAR    WORK.  119 

these  things  exclusively.     This,  however,  would  be  an 
unprecedented  course.     No  young*  man  had  ever  before 
this  thought  of  giving  up  his  income  and  prospects  for 
the    sake    of    writing    theological    tracts,    and    giving 
metaphysical  lectures  which  never  brought  a  farthing's 
remuneration.     The  originality  of  the  resolution   never 
daunted   him,    and   in   July    1861   Keshub  resigned  his 
post   in   the  Bank  of  Bengal.     Strong   remonstrances 
from  friends  and  guardians,  pointing  out  the  magnitude 
of  the  sacrifice  he  made,  availed    nothing.     The    hopes 
held  out  by  the  authorities  of  the  Bank,  and  the  regrets 
then   expressed  at  his   resolution,    did    not    make    him 
waver  for  a  moment.     Keshub  had  made  up  his  mind, 
and  stuck  to  his  decision.     Thus  closed  his  short  secular 
career.     Once  again  in  1867  for  a  month  or  two  he  con- 
sented to  serve  in  the  Calcutta  Mint.      But  this  was   in 
strict  obedience  to  a  sense  of  duty.    It  was  not  in  his  own 
interest  at  all,  but  to  preserve  the  interest  of  the  family 
in  the  post  of  bullion-keeper  which   had   been  held  by 
the    Sens  for  successive  generations.     Keshub  vacated 
the  place  as   soon    as   the   permanent    incumbent   was 
found.     The  far   reaching  consequences  of  this  renun- 
ciation are  evidenced  in  the  devoted  men  who,  hence- 
forward following  his  example,  have  forsaken  all  worldly 
prospects  to  serve  the  Church.  The  calling  of  the  Brahmo 
Missionary,  as  separated  from  all    earthly    callings,  as 
renouncing  every    motive    of  gain,    as  depending  upon 
Providence   alone   for   food    and   raiment,    was  in  this 
manner  first  created. 
The  year   i860  saw  the  publication  of  Keshub's  first 


120  LIFE    OF    KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

tract  entitled  "  Young  Bengal,  This  is  for  you,"  which 
was  followed  by  about  a  dozen  others.  These  tracts  give 
a  very  complete  view  of  the  elementary  principles,  and 
beliefs,  upon  which  it  pleased  Providence  to  rear  up 
the  noble  structure  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  reli- 
gious character.  He  began  the  first  tract  by  noticing 
the  transition  which  the  young  men  of  his  time 
presented  after  the  period  of  scepticism  and  irreligion 
which  i(  a  godless  education "  given  in  Government 
schools  produced.  "  Not  only  has  this  godless  educa- 
tion shed  a  baneful  influence  upon  the  individual,  but 
it  has  proved  an  effective  engine  in  counteracting,  to 
no  small  extent,  the  social  advancement  of  the  people, 
and  in  rendering  more  frightful  the  intellectual,  domes- 
tic, and  moral  institutions  of  the  millions  of  our 
countrymen  *  *  Rest  assured,  my  friend,  if  in  our 
country  intellectual  progess  went  hand  in  hand  with 
religious  development,  if  our  educated  countrymen  had 
initiated  themselves  in  the  living  truths  of  religion, 
patriotism  would  not  have  been  a  matter  of  mere 
oration  and  essay,  but  a  reality  in  practice."  Thus 
in  i860,  in  his  first  published  writing,  when  he  was 
twenty-two  years  old,  Keshub  laid  down  the  principle 
on  which  he  carried  on  the  whole  work  of  his  reform 
intellectual,  social,  domestic,  and  religious.  u  Living 
truths  "  he  perceived  so  early  as  that,  and  they  opened 
out  to  him  the  fiery  course  which  he  followed  with 
untiring  fidelity  for  the  next  twenty-four  years  till  his 
life  ended.  He  seems  almost  to  be  addressing  and 
blessing  himself  as   he  concludes  thus  : — "  Go   on,    my 


THE  TRACTS.  121 

dear  brother,  go  on  in  the  hallowed  course  you  have 
begun.  Muster  up  your  solemn  resolves,  and  advance 
steadily,  turning  neither  to  the  right,  nor  to  the  left. 
Difficulties  will  meet  you  in  the  way,  temptations  will 
entice  you  *  *  Conduct  yourself  with  wariness  and 
constancy,  strength  and  enthusiasm,  but  above  all  with 
thorough  resignation  to  the  Divine  will.  Steadily  and 
prayerfully  look  up  to  Him,  our  Light,  our  Strength, 
our  Father,  and  our  Friend.  He  will  fill  your  mind  with 
saving  knowledge,  your  heart  with  the  sweets  of  love, 
your  soul  with  purity,  and  your  hands  with  strength 
and  courage.  Retain  Him  in  the  depths  of  your  heart, 
and  affectionately  cling  to  Him  all  the  days  of  your  life. 
'  He  will  make  you  a  defenced  city,  a  column  of  steel, 
and  walls  of  brass/  "  The  second  tract  is  a  dialogue 
on  the  subject  of  Prayer,  illustrating  its  "  spontaneity, 
necessity,  and  utility/'  He  strongly  repudiates  the 
idea  of  "logically  proving  the  propriety  of  prayer/' 
His  whole  argument  is  condensed  in  one  sentence. 
"  As  I  ask  mortal  man  for  food  because  it  is  essential 
to  the  sustenance  of  my  body,  so  I  pray  to  my  God 
for  spiritual  blessings  which  are  essential  to  the  suste- 
nance of  my  soul.  In  both  cases  a  deep  want,  a 
pressing  and  irresistible  necessity  is  the  origin  of 
prayer :  in  neither  is  there  any  reference  to  logic/' 
He  spoke  times  without  number  on  the  all-important 
theme  of  prayer,  but  always  rested  his  argument  on  this 
irresistible  spontaneity.  In  short  these  thirteen  tracts 
most  successfully  embody  the  substance  of  his  lectures  in 
the  Brahmo  School.  The  burden  of  the  philosophical 
16 


122  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

part  of  that  teaching  was  the   doctrine   of  Intuitions. 
These  he  calls   otherwise  "  the   Basis   of  Brahmoism." 
He  defines  them  as  "  those  principles  of  the  mind  which 
are  above,  anterior  to,   and  independent  of  reflection," 
as    "  those   cognitions   which    our    nature    immediately 
apprehends  " — "  the  facts  of  our  constitution  which  we 
cannot   create  or  destroy."     He  names  the  intuitions   of 
"  Cause,  Substance,  Power,  Infinite,  Duty  as  immediate- 
ly  apprehensible."      He   gives    a   vast  array   of  philo- 
sophical authorities  and  quotations  to  prove  the  validity 
of  these   intuitions,    as   the   basis  of  the  religion  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj.     And  that  basis  remains  intact  until  to- 
day.    It  is  remarkable  how  in  some  of  his  earliest  utter- 
ances he  foreshadows  the  great  developments  of  spiritua- 
lity he  subsequently  attained.  The  doctrine  of  Inspiration 
is  thus  outlined  in  the  second  tract    "Be   prayerful," 
published  in  July,  i860.     "When  thus  brought  into  His 
holy  presence,  the  sins,   sorrows,  and  vexations  of  the 
world   cannot   encroach   upon   us    *     *    the   soul  feels 
itself  in  the  midst  of  Holiness,  and  drinks  of  the  sweets 
of  pure  Divine  communion,  and  enjoys  a  serenity  and  a 
bliss  unspeakable.     It  forgets  its  own   weakness,   and 
is  inspired  with  heavenly   fire  and   enthusiasm.     Thus 
inspired,  man  walks  in  the  path  of  life  with  invincible 
courage,  and  unyielding  resoluteness,  fearing  no  earthly 
potentate,  for  Omnipotence  is  on  his  side,  yet  loving  all, 
for  his  soul  is  filled  with  brotherly  affection — magnifying 
the  name  of  the  Creator  with  fiery  eloquence."    Keshub's 
characteristic  doctrines  of  seeing,  hearing  and  feeling 
God,  elaborated  in  his  famous  lecture  on  God-Vision  in 


THE   TRACTS.  I  23 

1 880,  are  prefigured  in  the  third  tract  published  in  Sep- 
tember, i860.  "  How  animating  is  the  Brahmo's  know- 
ledge of  God  !  He  does  not  worship  an  abstract  metaphy- 
sical ideal  of  the  Divinity,  destitute  of  charms  and  lifeless. 
*  *  His  God  is  neither  a  logical  nor  a  historical  divinity. 
His  God  is  an  ever-present  and  ever-living  Reality  that 
can  be  seen  and  felt.  He  stands  before  his  Father  face 
to  face.  He  beholds  Him  who  is  infinite  in  time  and 
space,  wisdom  and  power,  love  and  holiness,  and  is 
at  once  enlivened  and  enraptured."  Have  not  these 
utterances,  made  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the  mystic 
ring  of  Keshub's  latest  teaching  ?  The  development 
is  systematic,  there  is  a  singular  likeness  between  the 
first  and  last  stage.  The  reader  ought  to  remember 
that  there  was  no  antecedent  Brahmo  literature  from 
which  a  single  one  of  the  sentiments  or  expressions 
quoted,  could  be  borrowed.  Keshub  created  that 
literature,  and  it  is  thus  how  he  laid  down  the  first 
rudiments. 

In  the  summer  of  i860  Keshub  went  to  Krishnagar  on 
his  first  missionary  expedition,  the  foreunner  of  so  much 
endless  propagational  activity  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
He  was  accompanied  by  some  members  of  Devendra 
Nath  Tagore's  family,  and  they  all  put  up  in  the  house 
of  Babu  Ramlochan  Ghose,  the  father  of  our  distin- 
guished fellow-citizens  Messrs.  Manomohan,  and  Lal- 
mohan  Ghose.  The  visit  was  not  ostensibly  missionary 
in  its  character,  it  was  a  sort  of  pleasure  trip,  but  Keshub 
had  it  in  his  mind  to  make  an  attempt  to  propagate  in 
public  lectures  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     His 


124  LTFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

discourses  in  the  Brahmo  School  had  already  gained 
him  a  reputation  for   eloquence.     He  had  become  very- 
popular  among  young  men  of  his  own  age,  the  educated 
community  of  Bengalis  looked  upon  him  with  consider- 
able interest,  and  the  Christian  missionaries,  who  had 
an  eye  to  his  l  conversion/   regarded  his  progress  with 
anxious  jealousy.      Keshub's  offer  to  give  public  lec- 
tures on  religion  was  therefore  hailed  with  enthusiasm 
by   the   young   men   and   leaders   of  Hindu   society   in 
Krishnanagar.     Now  Krishnanagar  is  an  ancient  town. 
It  has  grown  under  the  refining  influence  of  a  long  line 
of  Hindu  princes,  one  of  whom,  Rajah  Krishna  Chandra 
Rai,  after  whom  the  town  is  named,  maintained  a  most 
learned  court,  and  extensively  partronized  both  classical 
and  provincial  literature.     Its  inhabitants  are  noted  in 
Bengal  for  intelligence  and   public   spirit.      After   the 
original  Brahmo   Somaj  of  Raja  Rammohan  Roy,  the 
second  similar  institution,  ever  established  in  the  coun- 
try, was  at  Krishnanagar.     The  Christian  missionaries 
therefore  made  this  town  one  of  their  strongholds.     And 
when  Keshub's  extempore  lectures,   altogether  an  ori- 
ginal   style   of    propagation   at   the    time,    drew    large 
audiences,    the    presiding   Trinitarian    missionary   Mr. 
Dyson,    found   it   necessary  to  deliver  counter-lectures. 
This  was  the  first  beginning  of  that  controversy  between 
Keshub   and  the    Christian   missionaries   which   ended 
not  in   antagonism,  but  in  closer  sympathy  afterwards. 
Nothing  roused  Keshub's  nature  so  much  as  opposition, 
and  Mr.  Dyson  instead  of  being  able  to  crush  the  rising 
influence  of  the  young  man,    fanned    the  flame  of  his 


FIRST  MISSIONARY   TOUR.  1 25 

fierce  energy.  Keshub  spoke  till  his  lungs  were  about 
to  burst,  and  medical  men  ordered  him  to  stop.  All 
Krishnanagar  sided  with  the  Brahmo  reformer.  The 
orthodox  Pandits  formally  thanked  him  for  vanquishing 
the  Christian  missionary,  who  was  regarded  as  the  com- 
mon foe  of  all  Hindus.  Keshub  came  out  with  flying 
colours.  The  theological  warfare  raging  in  a  provincial 
lecture-room,  was  soon  carried  on  to  Calcutta,  and  re- 
duced to  the  more  permanent  form  of  tracts  and  trea- 
tises. Keshub  wrote  a  short  missionary  epistle  in  Ben- 
gali to  Devendra  Nath,  which  he  caused  to  be  published 
in  the  Tatmabodhini  Patrika,  at  that  time  the  only  organ 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  describing  the  progress  of  his 
work.  His  success  was  so  great  that  his  sentiments 
were  full  of  confidence  and  exultation,  implying  a  pro- 
mise of  future  operations,  which  some  ill-natured  elderly 
Brahmo  critics,  for  Keshub's  genius  had  already  begun 
to  provoke  a  lively  jealousy  in  the  Somaj,  construed  into 
egotism.  But  Devendra  Nath,  the  wise  leader,  under- 
stood his  young  disciple  much  better,  and  gave  him 
every  encouragement  and  opportunity  to  develop  his 
powers.  The  results  of  the  controversy  were  embodied 
by  Keshub  in  his  concluding  tracts  on  the  philosophical 
basis  of  Brahmoism,  while  Mr.  Dyson  matured  the 
lectures  delivered  by  himself,  in  his  treatise  on  Brahmic 
Intuitions,  comprising  for  a  long  time  the  stock  argu- 
ment of  a  class  of  Christian  missionaries  against  the 
principles  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  As  Keshub's  oppo- 
nent Mr.  Dyson  acquired  great  prominence  from  this 
time,  and  rose  into  a  position  which  perhaps  he  would 


126  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

not  have  otherwise  attained.  He  was  followed  by  other 
Christian  controversialists,  and  the  discussions  created 
great  sensation  for  some  time.  But  we  must  not  anti- 
cipate events.  Keshub's  first  missionary  efforts  were 
thus  prolific.  Over  and  above  his  other  qualities  the 
courage  and  energy  with  which  he  fought  these  theo- 
logical battles  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  endeared  him  to 
his  generous  leader  more  than  the  latter  ever  expressed. 
Their  relations  were  every  day  becoming  more  and  more 
intimate.  And  the  evidence  of  these  new  relations  was 
furnished  in  a  singular  and  unprecedented  adventure 
in  which  Keshub  had  engaged  himself  about  this 
time. 

This  was  an  expedition  to  Ceylon.  Babu  Devendra 
Nath  was  about  to  leave  for  that  island  with  two  of  his 
sons  on  a  sea-voyage,  and  invited  Keshub  to  join  the 
party.  He  readily  consented,  but  he  knew  he  could 
never  obtain  the  permission  of  the  family  to  launch  into 
such  an  enterprise,  which,  not  to  speak  of  the  horror 
every  sober  Hindu  guardian  had  for  the  sea,  was  most 
flagrantly  unorthodox,  because  every  passenger  had  to 
eat  on  board  things  forbidden,  or  at  least  things  touched 
by  unclean  mlcchha  hands.  So  Keshub  determined  upon 
a  clandestine  departure.  He  was  living  at  the  time  at 
a  convenient  distance  from  the  family-house,  in  a  garden 
in  the  suburbs  of  Calcutta,  and  without  letting  anybody 
know  about  his  intention  he  quietly  embarked  one 
morning  (in  September  1859)  with  his  friends,  leaving 
behind  a  little  note  which  was  discovered  after  the 
vessel  had  left.    His  relatives  and  friends  were  astound- 


VOYAGE   TO   CEYLON.  1 27 

ed  at  his   sudden  disappearance,  and  the  boldness  and 
skilfulness  with  which  it  was  managed.     According  to 
Bengali  household  notions  such  conduct  violated  every 
principle  of  obedience   and  respectability.     The   thing 
was  monstrous   to   Hindu  eyes.     The  sensation  caused 
was  very  great,  the  family  at  Colutolah   was  in   an  up- 
roar, and  the  shock  to  us,  his  boyish  companions,  was  so 
great  that  we  clung  to  each  other's  necks,  and  piteously 
wept !  His  little  wife,  who  was  not  more  than  twelve 
or  thirteen  years  old  at  the  time,  was  dangerously  ill, 
and  not  a  syllable  about  Keshub's  perilous  expedition 
had  reached  her,  till  he  had  gone  far  on  his  way.     We 
all  took  it  to  heart,  and  in  our  bitter  regret  accused  him 
of  cruelty,  undutifulness,   and  all  sorts  of  things.     But 
Keshub  in  the  meanwhile,  let   out   like   a  caged   bird, 
enjoyed   his   trip    most  heartily,    cracked   fun  with  his 
companions,  kept  a  lively  diary,   and  felt  he  had  done 
the  most  proper  and  natural  thing  in  the  world.     This 
joint    expedition   to    Ceylon   was   not    undertaken   for 
any  missionary   purpose,  but   it   had  one   great   effect 
upon   the  Brahmo   Somaj   in   cementing   the   relations 
between   Keshub    Chunder   Sen    and    Devendra   Nath 
Tagore    into    a   bond    of    friendship,    about   which   we 
shall  have  to  say  more  by  and  bye.     Keshub  return- 
ed  from    Ceylon    refreshed   in    body    and    mind,    with 
increased  ardour  for  work,  and  a  heightened  spirit  of 
enterprise. 

Keshub's  activities  at  this  period  however  were  not 
exhausted  by  expeditions,  lectures,  and  theological 
labours.     He  infused  into  the  Brahmo  community  the 


128  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

public  spirit  of  philanthropy  to  come  forward  and  join 
the  benevolent  movements  of  the  day.  In  i860,  owing 
to  deficient  crops,  a  dreadful  famine  visited  large  tracts 
of  Upper  India,  and  the  prominent  men  of  Calcutta, 
both  Hindu  and  European,  did  what  they  could  to 
awaken  public  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  the 
stricken  poor.  Religious  services  were  held  and  col- 
lections made  in  Christian  churches,  Government  opened 
relief  measures,  appeals  were  made  through  newspapers 
for  subscriptions,  and  Dr.  Duff,  then  in  the  height  of 
his  power  and  influence,  made  great  orations  in  every 
part  of  the  town.  Hitherto  the  Brahmo  Somaj  had 
never  considered  it  a  duty  to  mix  in  such  movements. 
But  Keshub  instinctively  perceived  the  necessity  and 
moral  fitness  of  taking  part  in  them,  and  advised  a 
famine  service  which  Devendra  Nath  at  once  held 
with  great  demonstration.  How  well  we  remember 
the  hillocks  of  unboiled  rice,  and  huge  salvers  filled 
with  silver  coins  contributed  by  the  family  of  the 
Pradhan  Acharya.  The  poorer  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion, and  we  young  men,  were  not  idle.  We  gave, 
every  one  his  utmost,  both  in  coin  and  kind.  The 
men  filled  bags  with  copper  coins,  soliciting  aid  from 
everybody  they  met,  the  women  parted  with  their 
jewels  and  clothes,  and  odds  and  ends  of  every  de- 
scription were  brought  in  that  could  be  converted 
into  money  to  buy  food  for  the  hungry  and  dying. 
That  was  a  blessed  sight,  the  poor  helping  the  poor, 
and  the  youthful  ardent  band  of  young  men  headed 
by  Keshub,  throwing  in  their  generous  impulses  into 


CHARITABLE  ACTIVITIES.  I  29 

the  cause  of  genuine  charity.  This  charitable  under- 
taking, first  undertaken  in  i860,  opened  the  door  to  quite 
a  new  order  of  activity  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  We  find 
in  the  next  year  services  held  to  take  collections,  and 
organizations  were  set  on  foot,  to  relieve  the  victims  of 
the  epidemic  fever,  which  from  that  year  began  to  rage 
in  the  villages  of  Lower  Bengal,  and  decimated  the 
population.  Government  aid  and  private  agencies  were 
inadequate  to  save  the  sufferers.  Under  the  advice  and 
guidance  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
advanced  to  rescue  the  country.  The  Branch  Somaj es 
imitated  the  laudable  example,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  relief  in  the  form  of  money  and  medical  treat- 
ment was  meted  out  to  the  poor. 

A  somewhat  singular  little  Society  was  started  by 
Keshub  about  this  time  under  the  name  of  the  Sangat 
Sava.  It  was  mainly  for  religious  conversation,  though 
occasionally  there  was  prayer,  and  the  influence  it 
exercised  upon  the  minds  and  lives  of  those  who  attended 
it  was  remarkable.  Strange  earnestness  characterized 
every  proceeding :  all  the  members  were  sturdy  young 
men,  stedfast  followers  of  Keshub,  the  quintessence  of 
the  Brahmo  School  where  he  lectured,  and  the  old  Good- 
will Fraternity.  They  met  frequently,  and  with  fiery  zeal 
for  self-reformation,  laid  bare  their  whole  hearts,  freely 
and  frankly  discussed  their  own  faults,  courted  mutual 
aid  and  criticism,  and  under  Keshub's  guidance  made 
most  genuine  progress  in  spiritual  and  moral  life. 
Hunger  and  fatigue  seemed  to  have  no  power  over 
them.  They  sat  up  the  whole  night,  from  the  evening 
17 


130  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

to  the  morning  twilight,  in  Keshub's  room  in  a  corner 
of  the  large  family  house  of  the  Sens  of  Colutolah, 
comparing  experiences,  practising  penitence,  making 
resolutions,  offering  prayers.  They  were  as  if  apart 
from,  and  above  the  rest  of  the  world,  themselves  and 
their  youthful  leader  their  own  world.  They  were  young 
men  fresh  from  the  colleges,  the  hope  of  their  parents, 
the  source  of  support  to  their  families,  and  their  guar- 
dians and  friends  took  considerable  alarm  at  their  indis- 
creet enthusiasm.  But  in  them  Keshub  found  congenial 
spirits  ;  he  magnetized  them,  they  magnetized  him  ; 
and  together  they  formed  a  nucleus  of  organization, 
out  of  which  the  best  materials  of  Keshub's  subsequent 
movements  were  supplied.  The  oldest  Brahmo  mission- 
aries trace  the  change  of  their  characters,  the  formation 
of  their  ideals,  the  dawning  of  their  aspirations,  the 
formation  of  the  objects  of  their  lives,  to  the  Sangat 
Sava.  The  foundations  of  the  apostolic  brotherhood 
for  which  Keshub  laboured  so  incessantly  afterwards, 
which  took  form  years  afterwards  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
Mission  office,  in  the  Bharat  Asram,  the  Mangal  Bari 
neighbourhood,  the  Apostolical  Darbar,  wrere  first  laid 
in  mutual  love  and  confidence,  in  the  Sangat  Sava. 
The  youthful  enthusiasts  then  knew  no  guile,  felt  no 
jealousy,  had  no  ambition,  found  no  conflict  of  worldly 
interests.  Religion  was  new  to  them,  they  were  new 
to  each  other,  a  great  burning  repentance  for  past  sins 
purified  the  very  bottom  of  their  hearts,  joint  prayers 
knit  them  together,  the  love  of  truth  and  progress  excited 
them  like  new  wine.     Keshub's  eloquence  and  example 


THE   SANGAT  SAVA.  13 1 

fifed  them  up,  as  they  fired  him,  he  poured  into  them 
the  deepest  principles   of  his  character,   they  presented 
the  finest   elements  of  a  rising  church,    they  were  the 
pride  and  ornament  of  the   Brahmo    Somaj.     Devendra 
Nath  Tagore  was  to  them  gracious  like  a  father,  gave 
them   preference   and   precedence   before    every    other 
Brahmo,  rested  in  them  every  hope  of  the  future.     In  fact 
it  was  he  who  first  gave  them  the  name  of  the  Sangat, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Sikhs.     They  formed  an  apos- 
tolical fraternity  without  the  self-consciousness  of  some 
of  the  later  apostles,   they  formed  the   materials  of  a 
divine  dispensation  without  the  exclusiveness  and  bigotry 
which    has    characterized    a   good   many   Brahmo    dis- 
pensationists  subsequently.    Such  was  the  Sangat  Sava. 
And  when  Keshub  signalized  his  career  by  the   renun- 
ciation  of  his   worldly  prospects  and  resigned  his  post 
in  the  Bank  of  Bengal,  the  Sangat   Sava  received  him 
with  the  open  arms  of  sympathy  and  admiration.     In  it 
he  found  the  comfort,  the   reward,   and  the  response  of 
his  first  self-denial.     The   sacrificial  fire  lighted  by  his 
example   burnt  a   kindred  flame  in   the  young  hearts 
which  surrounded  him.     One    act   of  true  renunciation 
provokes  a  hundred  others.     The  men    of  the  Sangat 
soon  began  to  take  counsel  who  should  follow  Keshub's 
footsteps,    and   devote   himself   to   the    service   of   the 
Church.     One   after    another    began   to   take   leave  of 
secular  life,  till  the  Brahmo    Somaj   came   to   possess  a 
powerful  body  of  apostolical  workers,   all  in  the  prime 
vigour  of  life,   consecrated  with   their  families  to  self- 
sacrifice,  determined  to  spread  the  spirit  and  principles 


132  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

of  Hindu  Theism  by  ceaseless  labours  throughout  the 
land.  The  most  momentous  results  have  followed  such 
enthusiastic  propagation.  Keshub' s  true  leadership  has 
been  the  leadership  of  such  men  ;  his  real  ministry  has 
been  to  form  the  characters,  and  shape  the  destinies  of 
such  men. 

Master   of  his  own  time,   with  unlimited  aspirations, 
and  abundant  opportunities  of  every  kind,   Keshub  now 
not   only   initiated  philanthropic  movements   of    every 
kind,  but  also  began  a  correspondence   with   Theists   in 
other   parts  of  the  world.     The  two  best  known  in  Eng 
land  at  the  time  were  Mr.  Francis  William    Newman, 
and  Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe,  the  former  familiar  to 
us  as  the  author  of  "  Theism,  Doctrinal  and  Practical,5' 
and  the  latter  known  as  the  writer  of  two  admirable  little 
books,  entitled  "  Religious  Duties  and  Intuitive  Morals. " 
Mr.  Newman  was  at  once  ready  to  enter  into  practical 
relations ;   his  long  and  precisely  written   letters  we  all 
read   with    delight.     Keshub   proposed    an   educational 
agitation  both  in  England  and  India,  with  the  object  of 
starting  more  efficient  colleges    and  schools  than  what 
the    Government  gave  us.     Mr.  Newman   wrote  a  bro- 
chure in  the  shape  of  an  Appeal  to  the  British   Public, 
and  Keshub  convened  a  great  meeting  in  October  1861 
in    the   second  floor   of  the    Brahmo  Somaj    building, 
where  he   gave  a  brilliant  address.     Being  excessively 
alive  to  the  importance  of  possessing  a  newspaper  organ 
in   English,   with   a  view  to  influence  the   Hindu  com- 
munity both  on  educational,  religious,  and  other  matters, 
he  started  the  Indian  Mirror  in  August  1861,  in  conjunc- 


THE  "  INDIAN  MIRROR,"  AND  CALCUTTA  COLLEGE.    1 33 

tion  with  some  friends  as  a  fortnightly  journal.  Mr. 
Mano  Mohan  Ghose,  now  an  eminent  barrister  of 
Calcutta,  was  a  leading  spirit  in  this  undertaking,  and 
both  he  and  Keshub  engaged  the  services  of  Capt. 
Palmer,  a  dilapidated  soldier,  but  a  very  smart  writer 
of  newspaper  articles.  The  only  important  English 
newspaper  in  Calcutta,  conducted  by  a  native  editor,  in 
those  days  was  the  Hindu  Patriot  which  welcomed  the 
Mirror  as  a  brother.  There  being  thus  very  little  com- 
petition, the  new  fortnightly  was  ably  and  successfully 
conducted  from  the  beginning.  His  position  being  thus 
strengthened,  Keshub' s  ambition  now  was  to  found  a 
model  educational  institution.  Though  the  scheme  of  co- 
operation between  the  British  and  the  Indian  public  for 
this  purpose  could  not  be  made  to  take  a  practical  shape, 
from  this  time  forward  he  made  single-handed  attempts 
to  start  a  college,  where  the  highest  training,  both 
intellectual  and  moral,  should  be  given  to  the  youth 
of  the  land.  The  first  attempt  of  the  kind  which  he 
ever  made  was  the  establishment  of  the  Calcutta 
Collge  in  1862.  That  was  before  almost  any  other  of  the 
existing  colleges,  started  by  our  countrymen,  had  been 
established.  In  a  ricketty  old  building,  not  far  from  the 
place  where  the  whole  population  of  Calcutta  burn  their 
dead,  and  under  the  most  modest  appearances  Keshub 
opened  his  college,  the  only  grand  thing  about  it  being 
his  faith  in  its  future,  and  the  lofty  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  began  its  work.  His  opponents  made  light 
of  the  undertaking,  but  he  knew  he  was  going  through  a 
principal   mission  of  his  life.     Babu  Devendra     Nath 


134  LIFE   0F   KESHUB   CIIUXDER    SEN. 

Tagore  liberally  contributed  to  set  the  college   afloat, 
but  still  Keshub  had  to  borrow  money  on  his  personal 
responsibility  to  put   the   institution   in  working  order. 
Some   of    Keshub's    friends   volunteered    as   honorary 
teachers,  and  among  the  pupils  were  two  of  Devendra 
Nath   Tagore's   sons,    and    Keshub's   younger    brother 
Krishna  Behari  Sen,  the  learned   Editor  of  the   Liberal 
newspaper.     Keshub  never  believed  in  combining  theo- 
logical teaching  with  ordinary  education,  he  thought   it 
sufficient  to  teach  the  youthful  mind   the  elements  of 
morality  and    simple  natural  religion.     But  he  was   a 
most   staunch    advocate   of  early   moral   training,    and 
the  power  of  example  exercised  by  good  and  spiritually- 
minded    teachers.     He    began   to    work   the    Calcutta 
College   under  these   auspicious     principles,     and     the 
institution    continued   its    career   for   five   or   six  years 
under  varying  fortunes,  till  it  had  to  be  broken  up  for 
want  of  support.     But  Keshub's  zeal  for  the  education 
of   youth   never  abated,    and   showed  itself  in    various 
movements  till  the  present  Albert  College  was  founded 
in    1872.     Such  is  a  brief  survey  of  the  chief  events  of 
the   five   years   that  preceded   the  period  of  Keshub's 
Ministry   in    the     Brahmo   Somaj.      He   was    formally 
appointed  Minister  in  1862.     During  these  five  years  he 
developed  into   a  lecturer,   tract-writer,   reformer,   mis- 
sionary, and  philanthropist.     The  activities  of  his  moral 
and   religious  nature  developed  steadily.     He  became 
the  apostle  of  every  manner  of  enlightened  public  spirit, 
of  continued  reconstructive  social  progress.     These  im- 
provements he  added  to   his   foregone   attainments    of 


PRINCIPLES   OF   CHARACTER.  135 

ascetic  moral  rigour,  high  piercing  intelligence,  burning 
restless  enthusiasm.  His  spiritual  character  was  still  in 
the  course  of  organic  formation.  The  faith,  the  prayerful- 
ness,  the  soaring  impulses  of  inspiration,  the  humilities, 
the  tender  penitences  were  all  there,  but  undeveloped 
in  a  state  of  volcanic  combustion,  the  fierce  flame  of 
which  formed  a  sort  of  contagious  frenzy.  All  who 
approached  it,  young  or  old,  the  young  specially,  were 
caught  in  it.  A  mysterious  law  of  events,  an  unper- 
ceived  under-ground  force,  call  it  as  you  may,  provi- 
dence, or  predestination,  fate,  or  necessity,  progress,  or 
evolution,  added  power  to  power,  gift  to  gift,  in  his 
nature.  Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  himself  elderly,  wise, 
cautious,  much  experienced  in  the  vanity  of  human 
relations,  felt  the  strange  magnetism  of  the  young 
man's  genius.  The  Brahmo  Somaj  became  the  resort 
of  the  finest  youth  of  Calcutta,  and  not  a  few  well- 
grown  elderly  men  competed  with  the  young  for  the 
new  standards  of  excellence  so  unexpectedly  set  up. 
Every  important  step  Keshub  took,  became  a  new 
departure  for  the  whole  movement.  Every  enterprise 
into  which  he  launched,  opened  the  perspective  of  a 
new  future.  The  present  doctrine  of  inspiration  or 
Adesh  had  not  then  developed.  But  few  could  fail 
to  discern  that  there  was  a  wonderful  prescience,  and 
pre-arrangement  in  what  this  young  man  did.  Like 
some  immortal,  eternal  seed,  it  always  fell  into  fertile 
ground,  it  germinated  and  produced  a  hundredfold  of  its 
kind.  It  created  a  widely-felt  vitality,  opened  hidden 
possibilities,  drew  men  as  in  a  fowler's  net,  and  pervaded 


136  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

the  atmosphere.  Well  does  Devendra  Nath  summarize 
Keshub's  powers.  "  Whatever  he  thought  in  his  mind, 
he  had  the  power  to  express  in  speech.  Whatever  he 
said,  he  had  the  power  to  do.  Whatever  he  did  he  had 
the  power  of  making  other  men  do."  Thus  gradually 
Keshub's  life  became  the  law  of  progress  for  the 
Brah mo  Somaj. 

What  is  so  deep-seeing  as  a  devout  pure-minded 
human  love  ?  It  generates  profound  insight  into 
the  latent  worth  of  another's  character.  It  unlocks 
to  one  mind  the  buried  potentialities  of  another.  It 
discovers  angels  in  human  form,  and  turns  men 
into  angels.  Genius  has  a  twofold  function.  It  origin- 
ates beauty  and  truth  out  of  itself ;  it  recognizes  beauty 
and  truth  in  others.  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  many 
friends  and  admirers  among  young  men.  But  to  whom 
did  it  ever  occur  to  invest  him  with  the  ministry  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  ?  For  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  was 
reserved  the  dignity  and  happiness  of  making  this 
unexpected  announcement.  He  caused  it  to  be  adver- 
tized that  on  the  first  day  of  the  first  month  of  Bysak 
of  the  Bengali  Shakabda  1784,  corresponding  to  the 
13th  April  1862,  Keshub  would  be  formally  and  publicly 
installed  as  Acharya  (Minister)  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
Such  an  installation  had  never  been  held  before,  and 
such  a  dignity  never  was  conferred.  Those  who  hitherto 
officiated  at  the  pulpit  wore  call  Upacharyas,  or  sub- 
ministers,  while  Devendra  Nath  himself  was  President 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  This  therefore  was  an  original 
occasion,   and   meant   to    be   celebrated  with    becoming 


ELECTED  MINISTER  OF  THE  BRAHMO  SOMAJ.        137 

grandeur.     To  us  young  men,  the  announcement  was  a 
most   pleasurable    surprise,    to    a    great   many    elderly 
Brahmos  it  was    the   cause  of  bitter  and   ominous  jea- 
lousy, to  Keshub   himself  it  was  a  matter  of  unaffected 
wonder  and  deep  thankfulness.     But  by  faith  and  pray- 
er  he   prepared  himself  for  the  position   meant  to   be 
conferred  upon  him.     The  installation  was  to  take  place 
in  the  family  mansion  of  Babu   Devendra  Nath  Tagore. 
Great  preparations  were   set  on   foot.     The   ceremonies 
were   to   be   of    unique    and   unprecedented    grandeur. 
The  great  courtyard  was   festooned  with   garlands   and 
lamps,   and  a  classical  pavilion  with  shrubs  and  flowers 
was   constructed   in    the    middle.     A  long  service   was 
held,  at  the  end  of  which   Keshub   was  presented  with 
a  sort  of  diploma,    framed  in    gold,  in  which  his  main 
duties  as  Minister  were  set  forth  in   beautiful   language, 
the  document  being   signed  by  Devendra  Nath  Tagore 
himself.     He  was  also  presented  with  a  brightly  embla- 
zoned, velvet-lined  casket  containing  an  ivory  seal,  and 
the  Brahma   Dharma  Granth  (Book),  these  being  as   it 
were,  the  insignia  of  his  office.  The  title  of  Brahmananda 
(Rejoicer  in  God)   was  also  conferred  upon  him.     Thus 
was   Keshub  formally  initiated   into   the  duties  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  an  appointment  regarded 
by  him  as  most  sacred,  and  Divinely  given,  to  which  he 
faithfully  clung  all  his  life.     As  Minister,   and  nothing 
higher,  he  always  wished  to  be  recognized  by  the  whole 
Indian   Theistic   community,  taking  upon  himself  spi- 
ritual responsibilities,   and  heavy   ceaseless  work,   the 
burden  of  which,  to  the  last  day  of  his  eventful  life,  he 
18 


138  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

bore  under  every  circumstance  of  trial  and  difficulty. 
He  looked  upon  himself  as  the  God-appointed  shepherd 
of  the  sheep,  and  his  spiritual  leading  he  deeply  wanted 
the  whole  Brahmo  Somaj,  then  a  united  Church,  to  take. 
He  multiplied  his  functions  every  year  henceforth,  till 
they  included  the  whole  sphere  of  human  life.  When 
Devendra  Nath  installed  him  as  Minister,  most  pro- 
bably he  did  not  feel  to  what  a  high  and  important  posi- 
tion he  raised  his  young  friend,  nor  perhaps  did  Keshub 
himself  realize  it.  But  Providence  had  predestined 
him  for  a  great  work,  and  every  new  circumstance  of 
life  suggested  that  work  to  him  in  increasing  measure. 
From  the  time  Keshub  became  Minister  of  the  Somaj, 
Devendra  Nath  began  to  be  called  Pradhan  Acharya  or 
Chief  Minister.  The  festivities  and  banquets  that  ac- 
companied the  occasion  were  on  the  princely  style  that 
distinguished  all  proceedings  of  the  Tagores  of  Calcutta. 
The  Brahmo  public  enjoyed  them  most  heartily,  but 
their  conclusion  was  marred  by  an  incident  which  turn- 
ed the  whole  career  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 

For  some  time  past  the  young  Brahmos  who  were 
with  Keshub  had  been  educating  their  wives,  and 
trying  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the  ladies,  the 
same  views  of  religion  which  they  themselves  pos- 
sessed. And  on  this  grand  occasion  of  the  installa- 
tion, we  determined  to  invite  them  to  take  part  in 
the  festivities.  Keshub  went  with  some  of  his  friends 
to  his  father-in-law's  house  in  the  village  of  Bali 
to  fetch  his  wife  for  this  purpose.  He  was  particular- 
ly  anxious    that    she    should    share    in    those   intimate 


ANOTHER   STRUGGLE   WITH   ORTHODOXY.  139 

relations  which  had  been  fast  growing  up  between 
himself  and  Devendra  Nath  Tagore.  But  his  guardians 
strenuously  objected  to  such  ideas.  In  the  first  place 
the  ladies  of  the  two  families  had  never  been  on  visiting 
terms.  Then  again  the  caste  to  which  Devendra  Nath 
Tagore  belonged,  though  nominally  Brahmanical,  was 
practically  out  of  the  pale  of  Hindu  communion.  Some 
of  his  ancestors  are  said  to  have  lost  caste  through 
involuntarily  inhaling  the  smell  of  certain  meat  dishes 
cooked  by  Mahomedan  hands  under  the  orders  of 
the  Emperor  of  Delhi.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Keshub's 
uncle  and  elder  brother  did  not  like,  on  general  grounds, 
to  foster  any  intimacy  between  the  two  families,  and 
especially  objected  to  give  any  countenance  to  the 
occasion  which  was  going  to  be  celebrated,  namely,  his 
accession  to  the  Brahmo  Somaj  Ministry.  This  was  the 
second  conflict  through  which  Keshub  had  to  go.  His 
obduracy  and  moral  courage  rose  quite  equal  to  the 
occasion.  "When  he  found  the  elders  of  the  family  per- 
fectly determined  not  to  allow  his  wife  to  be  taken  to  the 
house  of  Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  he  drafted  a  letter  to 
the  Inspector  of  the  Colutollah  police  to  the  following 
effect  : — "  Certain  parties  wish  to  prevent  me  by  force 
from  taking  my  wife  to  a  friend's  house.  I  want  the 
help  of  the  police  to  enable  me  to  exercise  my  right 
in  this  matter/'  Whether  this  letter  was  actually  sent 
or  not  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  we  distinctly  remember 
to  have  seen  the  draft.  The  police  never  came,  but 
early  in  the  morning,  at  about  5  o'clock,  on  Sunday  the 
13th    April,     1862,   the   inner    courtyard   of  the   large 


140  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

family  house  of  the  Sens  presented  a  lively  spectacle. 
All  the  elder  brothers,  adult  cousins,  uncles,  and 
great-uncles  who  swarmed  in  the  ancestral  habita- 
tion, had  left  their  beds  long  before  sunrise.  Servants, 
and  up-country  gate-keepers  were  posted  at  strategical 
points,  and  openings  for  the  enemy's  egress,  the  big 
outer  gates  were  bolted,  barred,  locked,  and  guarded  by 
the  stoutest  family  retainers.  Keshub  followed  by  his 
timid,  youthful  wife  (she  could  not  be  more  than  fifteen 
at  the  time)  her  sari  hanging  in  a  long  veil  before  her 
bashful  face,  came  out  of  his  own  room,  and  with 
suppressed  excitement  walked  past  the  marshalled 
groups  of  angry  relatives.  They  had  imagined  that 
their  presence  and  hostile  demonstration  would  awe 
him.  But  nothing  of  the  sort  happened.  No  word  was 
exchanged,  no  violence  was  shown,  the  shock  of  his 
audacity  struck  them  with  mute  horror ;  they  had 
never  seen,  never  expected  such  a  thing.  But  when  the 
brave  couple  reached  the  uttermost  gate,  the  turbanned 
ruffians  who  had  been  set  as  guard  stood  up,  and  posi- 
tively refused  to  let  them  out.  Keshub  was  not  unpre- 
pared for  this  insolence.  He  simply  advanced  a  step, 
and  with  calm  dignity  commanded  them  "  to  withdraw 
that  bolt,  and  unlock  the  gate."  He  had  that  about 
his  face  which  on  great  emergencies  compelled  imme- 
diate obedience.  The  bolt  was  withdrawn,  the  gate  was 
unlocked,  and  with  his  faithful  wife  by  his  side  the 
young  hero  stood  emancipated  in  the  free  light  and  air 
of  the  public  street.  The  big  family  prison,  the  arrayed 
relatives  were  all  left  behind,  as  it  happened,  for  a  much 


EXPULSION  AND   EXCOMMUNICATION.  141 

longer  time  than  he  anticipated  at  the  time.  He  hired 
a  palki  at  once,  and  off  he  went  to  the  hospitable  house 
of  Devendra  Nath  Tagore.  But  that  very  evening, 
scarcely  before  the  grand  ceremonies  of  the  installation 
had  terminated,  he  got  a  formal  missive  signed  by  his 
uncle  and  elder  brother,  forbidding  him  to  re-enter  the 
family  house  he  had  disobediently  left,  and,  since  he  had 
chosen  to  outrage  the  feelings  of  his  guardians,  to  shift 
for  himself  as  best  as  he  could.  On  Keshub's  gentle 
unimpassioned  face  no  emotion  of  fear  or  hesitancy 
showed  itself ;  there  was  only  that  calm  inscrutable  smile 
which  came,  like  an  unearthly  light,  on  all  the  great 
crises  of  his  life.  He  was  silent,  and  handed  over  the 
letter  to  Devendra  Nath  Tagore.  The  generous  fatherly 
love  with  which  the  latter  had  ever  cherished  Keshub, 
the  occasion,  all  planned  and  created  by  himself,  which 
brought  this  calamity  on  the  head  of  his  brave  inex- 
perienced young  friend,  the  progress  to  the  cause  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  which  he  foresaw  through  this  act  of 
persecution,  altogether  fired  him  with  an  intense  zeal  of 
sympathy,  and  he  invited  Keshub  most  cordially  to 
live  in  his  house  as  long  as  he  liked.  Keshub 
thankfully  accepted  the  invitation,  and  found  a  ready 
refuge  from  the  results  of  his  courageous  defiance  of 
domestic  authority.  Thus  was  laid  the  first  stone  of 
woman's  education  and  emancipation  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj.  Henceforward  the  wives  of  Brahmos  began  to 
be  recognized  as  a  factor  in  the  community,  means  be- 
gan to  be  devised  for  their  higher  education,  improve- 
ment, and  welfare.     Keshub  began  to  write  a  few  well- 


142  LIFE    OF    KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEX. 

chosen  precepts  under  the  heading  of  Stree  ftrati  upadcsh 
(precepts  to  wives).  Plans  were  discussed  as  to  how 
ladies  might  be  accommodated  in  the  prayer  hall  of  the 
Adi  Brahmo  Somaj.  Altog*ether  the  movement  seemed 
to  take  a  new  start.  As  for  Keshub  himself,  this  was  a 
most  serious  crisis  of  his  domestic  life.  The  relations 
of  his  public  life,  and  the  relations  to  his  wife,  were 
considerably  changed,  and  placed  very  much  on  a  new 
footing. 

It  meant  excommunication.  His  dearest  relatives, 
including  even  his  good  noble-minded  mother,  abjured 
all  connection  with  him.  There  was  great  turmoil  in 
the  caste.  Our  own  guardian  was  summoned  before  the 
caste-council  at  Colutolah,  and  commanded  to  expel 
us  from  the  house,  because  we  too  had  followed  Keshub's 
example  by  sending  our  ladies  to  the  Tagore  family.  But 
Anand  Chunder  Mozoomdar,  our  guardian,  refused  to 
obey  such  a  mandate  even  at  the  risk  of  being  himself 
excommunicated.  Matters  looked  as  if  Keshub  would 
not  only  be  disowned,  but  disinherited.  The  young 
Minister  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  entered  into  his  life- 
work  through  a  domestic  ostracism  which  meant  the 
severance  of  almost  every  earthly  tie.  After  his  marriage, 
he  says,  he  "  spent  his  honeymoon  amidst  asceticism  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord.'5  The  first  honors  of  his  minis- 
try he  enjoyed  amidst  desertion,  homelessness,  and  in 
deep  anxiety  of  the  spirit.  Yet  Devendra's  hospitality 
sufficed  to  make  him  comfortable  in  every  possible 
way.  Young  Mrs.  Sen  had  the  agreeable  and  refined 
companionship    of     the    venerable     man's    daughters, 


FRIENDSHIP  BETWEEN  KESHUB  AND  DEVENDRA.       143 

and  daughters-in-law.  Keshub  himself  was  treated 
with  greater  consideration  than  Devendra's  own  sons, 
besides  having  unrestricted  communion  with  his 
honored  warm-hearted  friend.  The  misfortune  of  ex- 
communication nearly  lost  all  its  sting,  and  his  irate 
relatives  were  much  discomfited  by  the  discovery 
that  their  inhumanity  instead  of  harming,  helped  the 
young  offender  in  maturing  his  favourite  plans,  and 
pursuing  his  philanthropic  activities. 

Who  that  had  a  stake  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  could 
ever  forget  the  singular  relations  of  spiritual  friendship 
that  had  slowly  and  unconsciously  grown  up  between 
two  men  so  differently  constituted  as  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  and  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  !  In  Keshub,  as 
Devendra  Nath  subsequently  expressed,  he  had  found 
"  the  wealth  of  seven  empires,"  he  had  found  a  genuine 
man  of  God,  a  friend  of  "  undivided  spirit.*  Many 
men  had  he  seen,  he  had  converted  many  idolators  into 
theists,  but  he  had  never  yet  met  a  man  whose  only 
delight  lay  in  God.  He  therefore  gave  Keshub  the 
surname  of  Brahmananda  (Rejoicer  in  God).  Keshub 
on  the  other  hand  found  in  him  an  affectionate  response, 
a  maturity  of  faith,  and  love  which  he  had  never  met 
before.  He  found  a  father  in  God.  He  found  a  guar- 
dian, a  friend,  an  instructor,  a  patron,  and  guide.  Both 
in  a  worldly  and  spiritual  sense,  in  these  days  of  weary 
excommunication,  he  profited  by  Devendra's  love  more 
than   he  had  ever  done  by  any  other  human  being.     To 

*  In   Devendra's   letters   to   Keshub,   the  latter  was  addressed  as  Avinna 
Rhidaya  (Undivided  in  Heart). 


144  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

the  last  day   of  his  life  his  gratitude  and  honour  for  his 
benefactor  were   steady.     In   Devendra's  prophetic  eye 
Keshub  centred  in  himself  the  whole  hope   and  promise 
of    the    future    Brahmo    Somaj,    the    ideal    spirituality 
of   the   rising   generation,    the   gifts    and   blessings    of 
Providence   to    the   land.     Everything   he   did    or    said 
carried    a    good    omen    to    Devendra's    fatherly   heart ; 
every  feature  of  his  face  and  mind  was   a  gleam   of  the 
Light  Eternal  to  his  imaginative  trusting  soul.     Keshub's 
enthusiasm  filled  him  with  the  electricity  of  the  higher 
spheres,  Keshub's  sympathy  intoxicated  him,   Keshub's 
intelligence  deepened  and  confirmed  his  own  wisdom,  he 
found   a  perfect  marvel  of  religious  genius  in  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen.     This  excessive  regard  annoyed  many,  and 
was  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  idolatry.     Till  past  midnight 
the  two  often  sat  together,  the  mature  man  of  fifty,  and 
the  young  enthusiast  of  twenty-five,  and  outwatched  the 
whole  company  of  attendant  Brahmos.     They  sat  toge- 
ther face  to  face,  absorbed  in  the  ecstacy  of  transcendent 
spiritual  intercourse,  drunk  with  mutual    sympathy  and 
communion.     Every  wish   Keshub  expressed  about  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  was  sacred  to  his  generous  friend,  while 
Keshub  carried  out,  like  a  dutiful  son,  every  responsibili- 
ty that  was  lovingly  reposed  upon  him.    How  distinctly 
does   the  present  writer  remember  the  glowing  incident 
wherein   Devendra   Nath   one   day  indicated   Keshub's 
future.     "When    Rajah    Duswanth    (husband    of    the 
discarded  Sakuntala)  had  occasion  to  go  up   to  heaven, 
he  saw,   outside   the   great   portals,  a  little  boy  playing 
with  a  young  lion  whose  teeth  he  insisted    upon   forcing 


LONG   ILLNESS.  1 45 

open,  that  he  might  count  them.  The  Rajah  thought 
*  if  such  be  the  power  of  that  little  fellow  when  he  is 
a  child,  what  will  he  become  when  he  grows  up  to  be 
a  man  ?'  Rajah  Duswanth  did  not  recognize  that  the 
brave  child  was  his  own  son,  born  of  the  banished 
Sakuntala."  "  Brahmananda,"  said  Devendra  Nath  "  is 
but  a  youth.  If  such  be  his  power  now,  what  will  it  be 
when  he  fully  grows  up  ?"  Alas  that  when  Keshub  did 
grow  up  to  the  full  height  of  his  manhood,  Devendra 
Nath  could  not  be  at  hand  to  give  him  the  fond  fatherly 
recognition.  Then  they  had  separated  never  to  unite 
in  this  world  again  ! 

But  exile  from  home  was  not  the  only  trial  to  which 
Keshub  was  subjected  at  this  time.  A  most  obstinate 
and  painful  scrofulous  disease  attacked  him,  and  for 
months  together  he  was  bed-ridden.  In  fact  for  the 
remainder  of  the  year  1862  he  suffered  continually. 
The  stoical  fortitude  with  which  he  bore  the  formidable 
miseries  of  this  long  illness  was  a  fresh  source  of  in- 
struction to  every  one  who  approached  him  to  minister 
and  sympathize.  A  whole  army  of  determined  medi- 
cal tormentors,  from  the  provincial  barber,  and  primeval 
quack,  to  the  eminent  and  accomplished  Sir  John 
Farrar,  made  him  the  target  of  their  scientific  skill. 
Lumps  of  flesh  eroded  from  his  person  under  the  action 
of  destructive  chemicals,  and  the  lancet  travelled  in  its 
truculent  course  from  depth  to  depth.  There  were 
about  a  dozen  operations,  and  Keshub  always  pre- 
sented the  same  spirit  of  indifference  to  pain,  not 
allowing    a    moan    or    sigh    to    escape    his    lips.       One 

19 


146  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

anxious  night  undei  the  effect  of  a  corrosive,  administered 
by  a  medical  barber,  (father  of  on,e  of  his  favourite  pupils, 
his  limbs  became  cold,  his  wrists  pulseless,   and  we  all 
hastened  to  his   bedside.      We  found   him   feeble,   but 
perfectly   composed    and   fearless.     What   is   worse   he 
had  to  remove  to   a  little   rented  house  in  the  midst  of 
this  painful  illness.     The  domestic  complications   which 
arose,    rendered  it   necessary   for  him  to  threaten   one 
of   his    guardians    with    legal   proceedings    unless   the 
paternal  property,  to  which  he  was  entitled,  was  restored 
to  him  forthwith.     It  was  not  considered  desirable  that 
he  should   pursue  the  processes  of  this  unpleasant  duty 
while  under  the  roof  of  Devendra  Nath   Tagore,   who 
might    be    naturally    suspected    as    the    instigator   of 
family  ruptures.     Nor  did   it  appear  proper  that  in  the 
state  of  his  serious  illness  he  should  be   entirely   cut  off 
from  his  near  relations.     It  was  a  delicate  position  both 
for  Keshub,   and  his   generous  friend.     But  the  senior 
members  of  the  Sen  family  were  still   inexorable,   they 
would   not   receive   him    in  the  ancestral   house.     The 
difficulty  was  at  last  settled   by  the    arrangement   that 
Keshub    should    remove  to   lodgings,    near  the  family 
home,  where  his  mother  and  brothers   might  visit  him, 
and  minister  unto   his   sufferings.     Devendra  Nath  un- 
willingly consented  to  this  arrangement,   but  undertook 
to   provide    every    necessity  and   comfort   that  Keshub 
required  in  the   humble   quarters  he  removed   to.     The 
thoughtful  and  affectionate  delicacy  with  which  he  did  all 
this   remains   unparalleled   in    the   history   of   Brahmo 
relations,   and  though   subsequently  Keshub  had  many 


TRIUMPH   OVER   TRIALS.  147 

devoted  friends  who  served  him  to  the  best  of  their 
power,  his  obligations  to  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  put 
him  under  a  debt  that  could  never  be  discharged  in  this 
life.  By  December  1862  he  recovered  from  his  illness, 
the  financial  disputes  with  his  uncle  terminated  by  his 
having  a  cheque  of  Rs.  20,000,  he  was  taken  back 
into  the  family  mansion,  his  sufferings  and  fortitude 
moved  the  sympathy  and  admiration  of  his  relatives. 
His  eldest  son  Karuna  Chunder  was  born,  nay  it  alto- 
gether seemed  as  if  the  departing  year  carried  away  on 
its  shoulders  all  the  misfortunes  and  trials  of  the  heroic 
young  reformer. 

Keshub  re-entered  the  family  house  in  triumph.  Well 
does  Krishna  Behari  Sen,  the  faithful  brother,  relate  in 
his  short  sketch,  entitled  "  Our  Minister,"  that  Keshub 
"  triumphed  over  physical  sufferings,  and  triumphed 
over  persecution."  And  an  opportunity  soon  presented 
itself  of  celebrating  his  triumph.  The  son  being  born 
on  the  19th  December,  Keshub  bethought  himself  of 
performing  the  Brahmo  father's  first  duty,  namely,  the 
ceremony  of  Jat  Karma,  or  formal  thanksgiving  for 
the  birth  of  a  child.  And  this  being  Keshub's  first- 
born child,  he  meant  to  do  it  in  becoming  style. 
Consultations  were  held  with  friends  and  relatives,  but 
all  the  latter  disapproved  of  the  idea.  They  said  that 
such  a  Brahmo  ceremony  held  in  the  Hindu  household 
would  greatly  offend  the  feelings  of  all  the  members 
of  the  family,  the  majority  of  whom  professed  the  or- 
thodox faith.  But  this  time  Keshub  determined  to 
stand  upon  his  rights.     He,  like  the  others,  was  a  sharer 


1 48  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER   SEN. 

in  the  family  house,  and  why  should  he  not  act  accord- 
ing to  his  convictions,  as  the  rest  of  the  sharers 
acted  according  to  theirs  ?  If  his  relatives  would 
not  offer  him  help ;  he  knew  where  to  seek  for  it.  A 
bare  expression  of  his  wish  was  enough  to  persuade 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore  to  order  grand  preparations  to 
be  made  for  the  Jat  Karma  ceremony.  A  long  list  of 
invitations  to  all  Brahmos,  there  were  no  party  divisions 
in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  at  that  time,  was  drawn  up,  a 
grand  pavilion  was  set  up  in  the  inner  courtyard,  bands 
of  noisy  native  musicians  were  posted  in  different  quar- 
ters of  the  building,  and  the  discomfited  orthodox  Sens 
found  that  everything  went  on  with  the  most  offensive 
success  in  spite  of  all  they  could  do.  On  the  morning 
of  the  nth  January  1863,  when  the  ceremony  was 
appointed  to  take  place,  the  tom-toms  began  to  beat, 
and  the  sanai  piped  with  vigour,  the  nahabat  gave  out 
its  far-reaching  strains,  the  flowers  and  garlands  were 
being  hung  up  in  heaps,  and  the  outraged  relatives 
felt  it  was  growing  altogether  too  hot  for  them.  So 
this  time,  instead  of  trying  to  exile  Keshub,  they  exiled 
themselves.  They  entreated  the  irrepressible  bands- 
men, to  give  a  moment's  truce  to  their  clamorous  instru- 
ments, for  to  their  heart  the  unseasonable  music  was 
like  insult  added  to  injury  ;  and  in  the  temporary  lull, 
they  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  clearing  out  of  the  house 
with  women,  children,  servants,  bag  and  baggage  all. 
Only  Keshub's  mother  remained  with  him.  Keshub 
was  thus  left  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  whole 
field,  he  could  do  in   the  house  as  he  chose.     The  Jat 


RENEWED    CONTROVERSY   WITH   CHRISTIANS.       149 

Karma  festival,  the  first  Brahmo  ceremony  held  by 
Keshub,  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp,  and  estab- 
lished his  position  in  the  family  house  firmly  for  ever. 
Nay,  it  brought  over  some  of  his  relatives  to  his  side. 
Henceforward  they  ventured  to  show  greater  sympathy 
with  him,  and  more  openly  than  before.  One  after 
another  they  were  converted  to  his  principles,  till  at 
last  the  whole  tone  and  character  of  the  family  became 
Theistic. 

Cured  from  severe  illness,  recalled  from  domestic 
exile,  established  in  the  bosom  of  the  family,  Keshub 
devoted  his  time  now  to  the  labours  of  his  Ministry. 
The  Brahmo  Somaj  speedily  waxed  powerful,  conver- 
sions to  evangelical  Christianity  became  more  and 
more  rare,  and  Christian  propagandists  felt  it  more 
necessary  than  ever  to  check  the  growing  influence  of 
the  upstart  Theistic  organization.  So  once  more  the 
bugle-notes  of  controversy  were  sounded.  But  this 
time  it  was  not  Mr.  Dyson,  or  any  European  at  all  who 
descended  into  the  battle-field.  It  was  the  Rev.  Lai 
Behari  Day,  a  native  Christian  pastor,  one  of  the  first- 
fruits  of  Dr.  Duff's  labours,  who  challenged  Keshub  to 
defend  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  if  he  could,  against  his 
determined  attacks.  The  Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day  had 
considerable  reputation  as  an  English  scholar.  But  he 
was  even  more  celebrated  for  his  power  of  ridicule.  In 
fact  he  combined  the  two  qualities  together  for  which  he 
soon  found  ample  field.  Mr.  Day  started  the  Indian 
Reformer,  a  weekly  journal,  conducted  with  fair  ability, 
which  poured  floods  of  ridicule  upon    everything   which 


150  LIFE    OF    KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  Brahmos  did  or  said,  of  course  directing  principal 
attention  upon  the  two  leaders  Devendra  Nath  Tagore, 
and  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  The  success  of  Mr.  Day's 
buffoonery  emboldened  him  to  appear  as  a  public 
lecturer,  and  at  last  his  attacks  seemed  to  demand 
some  reply.  Keshub  gave  that  reply  in  his  well-known 
lecture  on  "  The  Brahmo  Somaj  Vindicated '  in  April 
1863.  It  has  been  already  said  that  public  sympathy 
lay  altogether  with  the  Brahmo  Somaj  in  such  discus- 
sions, and  the  promising  genius  and  eloquence  of 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  invested  that  sympathy  with 
great  expectations  for  the  future.  So  the  announce- 
ment of  Keshub's  lecture  drew  a  vast  audience,  includ- 
ing the  great  Dr.  Duff  himself,  who  was  so  impressed 
with  the  bulk  and  behaviour  of  the  crowds  of  listeners, 
that  with  his  characteristic  frankness  he  at  once 
said  "the  Brahmo  Somaj  was  a  power  in  the  realm." 
Keshub,  without  being  in  the  least  disrespectful  to  the 
claims  and  excellences  of  Christianity,  defended  the 
position  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  with  an  enthusiasm 
and  ability  that  won  the  admiration  even  of  his  op- 
ponents. Successive  lectures  and  counter-lectures  fol- 
lowed, and  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  at  each  stage  of  the 
controversy,  gained  in  influence,  making  headway,  and 
acquiring  popularity  with  the  rising  generation.  The 
orthodox  Hindus  in  general  felt  thankful  that  an  effec- 
tive check  had  at  last  been  given  to  the  progress  of 
Christian  conversion  on  the  part  of  the  youthful,  and 
for  that  reason  gradually  softened  their  attitude  of  hos- 
tility   to    the  Brahmo    Somaj    movement.     It   may  now 


UNPOPULARITY   OF  EARLY   MINISTRY.  151 

be  asked  what  was  the  effect  of  Keshub's  ministry  in 
the  Brahmo  Somaj  ?     Here  he  had  to  meet  with  another 
painful   trial.     The  account  of  the   early  days    of  that 
ministry  is  not  at  all  cheerful  to  look  back  upon.     As  the 
Minister,    he   was   not   at   home  in  his   pulpit,  he  was 
not  popular  in  the  congregation  of  the   Brahmo    Somaj 
of  those   times.     His   batch   of  youthful   followers,   all 
under  twenty-five,  liked  whatever  he  said.     They  eager- 
ly participated  in  his  indefinitely  enlarging  faith  ;  his 
great    progressive     convictions ;     zeal,    with    plenty  of 
unripe   energy   and   warmth    in    it.      But    it   must    be 
admitted    that    even    they    judged    his    sermons    and 
prayers   in  Bengali   somewhat  hard  and  laboured,  not 
to   be  compared  one  moment  with  the  glowing  trans- 
cendental   sentences    that    flowed   from   the   mouth   of 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  with  all  his   inspiration   of  the 
Himalayas   still  ablaze  within  his  heart.     Keshub's  ser- 
mons were  mostly  ethical,  and  intellectual  in  those  days, 
with   large   bursts   of  fiery   enthusiasm,    and   towering 
flights  of  faith.     The  elder  portion   of  our  Wednesday 
audiences  simply  tolerated  the  new  Minister  with  many 
mental    protests,    and    badly    expressed    compliments 
which   were   taken    at   their   proper    value.     Devendra 
Nath's   power   as   president   and   chief  priest   was  too 
great   for  any  one  to  oppose  actively  the  election  of  his 
favourite  nominee.     But  the  spirited  young  shepherd  felt 
disturbed  by  the  tendencies  of  his  flock.     He   could   not 
ignore  the  fact  that  he  was  not  exactly  able  to  lead  the 
congregation   through   services    and    sermons  which  he 
could  then  produce,  that  he  was  out  of  element   in    the 


152  LIFE    OF    KESHUR    CHUXDER    SEN. 

Bengali  language,  that  in  devotional  affairs  he  did  not 
represent,  and  therefore  could  not  satisfy  the  tastes  of 
the  weekly  visitants  of  the  place  of  worship.  One  firm, 
unfailing  advocate,  encourager,  and  sympathizer  he  al- 
ways had  ;  and  that  was  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  himself. 
In  those  days  the  weekly  sermons  used  to  be  printed 
by  the  Somaj  press,  in  the  form  of  small  pamphlets,  of 
about  eight  pages.  One  after  another  as  these  pages 
appeared,  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  would  despatch  most 
enthusiastic  little  epistles  to  the  young  Minister,  expres- 
sive of  sympathy  and  admiration.  Nevertheless  the 
consciousness  of  his  unpopularity  preyed  upon  the  spi- 
rits of  the  young  man  secretly  and  deeply.  We  remember* 
one  Wednesday  night,  after  the  service,  he  quietly  came 
to  the  compound  of  our  house,  where  the  present  writer 
was  lying  on  a  charpoy,  sat  beside  him,  and  began  to 
talk  of  his  experiences  as  a  Minister.  We  clearly  re- 
member him  to  have  said  that  he  considered  English 
lectures  to  be  his  real  sphere  of  work,  that  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  pulpit  was  an  uncongenial  place,  that  people 
did  not  feel  edified  by  his  ministrations  ;  and  he  even 
went  so  far  as  to  hint  that  he  might  some  day  resign 
the  holy  office  conferred  upon  him  by  his  most  kind  and 
excellent  friend,  the  Pradhan  Acharya.  Altogether, 
his  mood  of  mind  wras  desponding.  To  compare  the 
wonderful  success  ot  his  later  ministry  with  those  days 
of  spiritual  struggle  and  unattained  popularity,  is  a 
strangely  instructive  study.  But  in  this,  as  in  all  things 
regarding  his  religious  life,  Keshub  is  the  example  of 


MISSIONARY  EXPEDITION  TO  BOMBAY  &  MADRAS.      153 

slow  attainment  and  human  growth.     There  was  nothing 
of  the  supernatural  about  him.* 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  year,  Febr. 
1864,  Keshub  projected  an  extensive  missionary  expe- 
dition, unattempted  before  in  the  history  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  of  making  a  complete  circuit  of  the  Indian  pe- 
ninsula, travelling  through  the  great  cities  of  Bombay 
and  Madras.  Before  this  Bombay  had  never  received  the 
gospel  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  Keshub's  lectures, 
one  of  which  was  presided  over  by  the  late  Sir  Alex- 
ander Grant,  produced  very  great  effect.  Mr.  Kursondas 
Madhavadas,  a  Bombay  Bania,  then  in  the  zenith  of 
his  prosperity,  received  the  reformer  of  Calcutta  with 
hospitality  in  his  splendid  house  at  Malabar  Hill.  Dr. 
Wilson,  the  veteran  missionary,  showed  warm  sym- 
pathy, called  friendly  meetings  at  his  house,  and  intro- 
duced Keshub  to  Maharajah  Daleep  Sing,  who  then 
happened  to  be  sojourning  in  Bombay. f     Meetings  were 

*  The  Venerable  Devendra  Nath  Tagore  thus  relates  the  impulse  which 
led  him  to  appoint  Keshub  Minister  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  "I  had  pitched 
my  tent  at  a  place  called  Ghuskarah,  not  far  from  Burdwan,  in  a  mango  tope, 
containing  thousands  of  trees.  It  was  about  midday.  And  there  the  Voice 
came  to  me  saying  '  Appoint  Keshub  as  the  Minister  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
The  Somaj  shall  grow  and  prosper  under  him.'  I  returned  to  Calcutta  and 
determined  to  make  the  appointment.  The  elderly  Brahmos  entreated  me  not 
to  do  this.  They  said  'appoint  him  Upacharya,  do  not  appoint  him  Acharya.' 
Keshub  Babu  himself  was  not  prepared  for  the  honor.  But  the  Voice  of 
God  had  come  to  me,  I  had  received  the  Inspiration,  and  I  determined  to  act 
accordingly.  Such  leadings  (chalana)  I  have  often  received  in  the  guidance 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj." 

t  Daleep  Sing  was  at  this  time  a  strait-laced,  Christian  bigot.  In  his 
reminiscences  of  Bombay,   Keshub,  and  the  friend  who  accompanied  him 

20 


154  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

held  both  at  the  Framji  Cowasji  Institute,  and  the  Town 
Hall,  and  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  then  Governor  of  Bombay, 
showed  Keshub  great  kindness.  By  one  of  the  coasting 
steamers,  belonging  to  the  British  Indian  Company,  he 
sailed  to  Calicut  on  the  Malabar  coast,  having  for  his 
companion  Annada  Charan  Chatterjea,  then  a  mission- 
ary of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  reception  in  Madras, 
whither  he  proceeded  by  rail  from  Calicut,  proved  no 
less  enthusiastic.  In  fact  Keshub  was  impressed  all 
the  more  by  the  simplicity  and  natural  earnestness  of 
the  inhabitants  of  what  is  called  the  Benighted  Presi- 
dency. The  Mahrattas,  in  their  own  way,  sympathized 
and  expressed  their  admiration  for  the  young  re- 
presentative of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  When  he  visited 
Puna  they  called  a  regular  old-fashioned  meeting  of 
the  Peshwa  times  in  the  Bisrambag  Palace,  they  put 
garlands  round  his  neck,  and  presented  him  with  atar 
and  pan-supari.  But  the  Madrasis  who  gathered  in 
immense  crowds  at  Patcheapa's  Hall,  wondered  at  his 
eloquence  and  enthusiasm,  and  gave  him  the  name  of 
the  "  Thunderbolt  of  Bengal."  Both  the  presidencies 
were  awakened  to  religious  thought  and  activity.  The 
Brahmo  Somaj,  of  which  they  had  already   heard   from 

related  how  the  Sikh  prince  asked  them  whether  every  orthodox  Hindu,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  was  not  "  a  liar,"  and  would  not  descend  into  the  nether 
regions.  And  then  he  volunteered  the  information  that  his  own  ancestors 
were  what  he  believed  all  Hindus  to  be,  and  had  long  made  their  way  into 
the  hot  depths  below.  Daleep  Sing  impressed  Keshub  as  a  weak-minded 
voluptuary,  who  had  picked  up  his  religious  views  from  extra-Calvinistic 
tracts,  and  truculent  missionaries  to  the  heathen.  This  is  interesting  in  view 
of  what  Daleep  Sing  is  now. 


FIRST  IDEA  OF  A  BRAHMO  SOMAJ  FOR  ALL  INDIA.     155 

the  newspapers,  for  which  they  had  entertained  a  vague 
distant  respect,  now  appealed  to  their  homes  and  hearts. 
The  response  came  most  naturally.    The  education  they 
had  received,  the  reformed  aspirations  they  had    com- 
menced  to   feel,   the  inborn    spiritual  instincts  of  their 
Hindu  hearts,  all  disposed  them  to  accept   with   cordia- 
lity the   messages   of  truth   and  trust   which  the  fiery 
apostle   of    the   Brahmo    Somaj    now    brought    them. 
The)?-  received  him  with  open  arms.     The  establishment 
of  the   Brahmo  Somaj    in   Bombay   and   Madras   only 
became  a  question  of  time.     Keshub   himself,  on   the 
other  hand,  was  deeply  struck  with  the  maturity  of  the 
times,   with   the   readiness   which  the  educated  Hindu 
population  of  those  distant  provinces  manifested  to  wel- 
come a  common  creed,  and  enter  into  a  common  brother- 
hood.    This   pioneer   expedition   of    Keshub   with   the 
propaganda   of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,   suggested   to   his 
mind  the  possibility  of  the  formation  of  a  grand  Theistic 
organization   which  would  include  within  its  operations 
all  the  provincial  centres  of  enlightenment,  thought,  and 
reformed  activity.     The  idea  of  a   Brahmo  Somaj    for 
all  India  thus  rose  in  his  mind  for  the  first  time.     The 
universal  sympathy  he  got  everywhere,  proved  beyond 
doubt  his   fitness  to  take  the  initiatory  steps  for  such  a 
movement.     He  had  felt  sure  for  a  long  time  that  his 
part  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  was  a  leading   part,    but   his 
reverence  for  his  generous  friend  the  Pradhan  Acharya 
was  true  and  deep,  and  he  never  wanted  to  do  anything 
in  supercession,  or  even  in  disregard  of  Devendra  Nath 
Tagore's  wishes. 


156  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

In  matters  of  social  reform,  however,  Devendra  Nath 
had  ever  been  a  conservative.  His  confidence  in  Ke- 
shub  was  always  so  entire  that  even  in  very  important 
matters  he  willingly  sacrificed  his  own  prejudices  in 
preference  of  Keshub's  reforming  zeal.  Thus,  for  in- 
stance, when  the  speculations  of  the  Sangat  Sava  about 
the  necessity  of  renouncing  the  Upavita,  or  sacred  thread, 
on  the  part  of  Brahmin  members  of  the  Somaj  wTere 
published,  Devendra  Nath  threw  away  this  Brahminical 
badge  from  his  own  person.  Nay  he  went  further.  After 
installing  Keshub  as  Minister,  he  appointed  two  other 
men  as  Upacharyas,  or  assistant  ministers,  who  had  the 
exclusive  distinction  of  having  renounced  their  sacred 
thread.  The  principle  that  the  Brahmo  Somaj  had 
followed  from  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy's  time,  namely, 
never  to  allow  any  but  reputable  Brahmins  to  officiate 
in  the  pulpit,  was  thus  surrendered.  Even  intermar- 
riages had  begun  to  be  tolerated  according  to  the  ritual 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  under  the  sanction  of  Devendra 
Nath.  The  first  marriage  between  persons  of  different 
castes  was  celebrated  in  August  1862.  This  marriage, 
the  celebration  of  which  was  somewhat  private,  on 
account  of  the  personal  circumstances  of  one  of  the 
contracting  parties,  opened  the  door  to  social  innova- 
tions that  not  long  afterwards  changed  the  whole 
character  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  caused  a  disrup- 
tion in  its  membership.  Keshub  to  whom  the  bride- 
groom was  well  known,  was  chiefly  instrumental  in 
bringing  about  the  marriage,  but  Devendra  Nath,  who 
made  no  objection  to  the  observance  of  Brahmo  Somaj 


SIGNS   OF  DISAGREEMENT.  1 57 

rites  on  the  occasion,  held  aloof.     He  did  not  attend  the 
ceremony,  and  did  not  take  any  notice  of  the  proceed- 
ings.     Evidently  he  had  no  liking  for  such  marriages. 
Keshub   was    enthusiastic   over   it,    he   felt   the    Somaj 
was    making   a    great   departure   in   taking   this    step. 
He   anticipated   the   important   issues   which   the   first 
intermarriage  involved.     But  he  was   most  discreet  in 
the  expression  of  his  enthusiasm.       Keshub,  however, 
had    doubts    about    the    legality    of    such    marriages, 
in    fact  of    all   Brahmo    Somaj  marriages,    celebrated 
according    to     strict     unidolatrous     ceremonies,    from 
which  essential  Hindu   rites    were   omitted.     He   tried 
to   persuade   Devendra    Nath   to   take   the   opinion   of 
the    best    known    lawyers    in    Calcutta  as   to  whether 
the     reformed    marriage    rites    had    the     sanction    of 
Hindu   law.     Devendra   Nath,    however,    could    never 
reconcile   himself  to   the  idea  of  marrying  widows,  and 
far   less   persons   of  different   castes.     He  did  not  care 
to  obstruct  Keshub's  reforms,  but  when  such  marriages 
began  to  multiply  in  the   Brahmo    Somaj,   his   feeling 
was  that  of  secret  uneasiness.     Keshub  could  detect  the 
uneasiness,  but  he  had  been  so  far   committed   to   the 
cause  of  reform  by  that  time,  and  his  ambition  to  serve 
and  develop  the  community  had  so  far  advanced,  that  he 
could  not  afford  to  reconsider  the  matter,  much  less  stay 
his  course.    Now  there  had  always  been  a  third  party  in 
the  Brahmo   Somaj,   a  party  of  intelligent  elderly  men, 
at  one  time  great  favourites  of  the  Pradhan  Acharya, 
who   were    strongly   opposed  to  all  the  new  ideas  and 
measures  Keshub  had  introduced,   and   bitterly  jealous 


t$S  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

of  the  ascendancy  he  had  gained.  They  being  always 
watchful  of  their  opportunity,  noticed  the  alarms  and 
misgivings  of  Devendra  Nath.  When  Keshub  was 
away  in  his  distant  tour  in  Bombay  and  Madras, 
during  his  absence  another  intermarriage  had  taken 
place,  to  which  moral  objections  were  taken  by 
these  conservative  Brahmos,  objections  which,  though 
not  unfounded,  were  ignored  by  the  younger  mem- 
bers. Upon  this  the  former  worked  very  power- 
fully upon  the  fears  of  the  noble-hearted  Devendra,  and 
succeeded  in  persuading  him  to  reconsider  the  relations 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  to  the  whole  subject  of  social 
reform.  On  Keshub's  return  he  found  that  matters  had 
taken  an  unfavorable  turn.  This  was  the  first  evil 
omen  of  the  serious  differences  that  were  soon  to  arise  to 
cause  painful  separation  among  the  best  of  friends, 
and  give  rise  to  the  first  secession  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
Troubled  in  thought,  depressed  at  the  prospect  of  con- 
sequences, Keshub  felt  that  he  was  likely  to  be  out- 
numbered at  head-quarters  on  the  impending  controver- 
sies, and  began  to  agitate  on  the  propriety  of  establish- 
ing a  Pritinidhi  Sava  (Society  of  Representatives)  to  take 
the  opinions  of  all  Brahmo  Somajes  in  the  provinces 
on  questions  of  importance,  but  he  did  not  succeed  in 
the  establishment  of  such  a  body  before  the  next  year 
1865.  However  at  every  such  step  his  tactics  were 
suspected,  and  the  differences  imperceptibly  grew  wider 
and  wider. 

It   has    already   been   hinted   that  naturally   Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  and  Devendra  Nath   Tagore  were  differ- 


DEVENDRA  AND  KESHUB  CONTRASTED.     159 

ently  constructed.     Spiritual  sympathy  had  united  them 
together,    but    their    mental    characteristics    scarcely 
agreed  on  any  point.     Take  for  example  the  type  of 
their  devotional  nature.     Devendra's   prayers   were  the 
overflow  of  great  emotional  impulses  stirred  by  intense 
meditation  on  the  beauties  and  glories  of  nature.     His 
utterances  were  grand,  fervid,  archaic,  profound  as  the 
feelings  were  which  gave  them  rise.     But  they  seldom 
recognised  the  existence  of  sins  and  miseries  in  human 
nature,  or  the  sinner's  necessity  for  salvation*  Devendra 
Nath  had  never  received  the  advantage  of  a  Christian 
training.     His  religious  genius  was  essentially  Vedic, 
Aryan,  national,  rapturous.  The  only  element  of  Semitic 
mysticism  which  he  ever  imbibed  was  from  the  ecstatic 
effusions  of  the  Persian  poet  Hafez.     But  the  charac- 
teristic  of  the   Hafezian,    or   Sufi  order  of  piety,  is  not 
ethical,   or  Christian,  but  sentimental,  and  so  to   say 
Hindu.     Devendra's  mind  assimilated  it  most  naturally. 
He    believed    all    sinfulness   and   carnality   to   be   the 
private  concerns  of  each  individual  man,  which  ought  to 
be  conquered  by  resolute  moral  determination.     On  the 
other  hand  simple  daily  prayer  had  been   a  habit  with 
Keshub  long  before  he  entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     He 
prayed  fervently,  freely,  untutored,  and  undirected.     He 
prayed  as  his  artless  soul  was  led  in  the  paths  of  sponta- 
neous appeals  to  a  merciful  Father  for  protection  against 
sin  and  falsehood.     Keshub's  prayers  were  not  tender, 
eloquent,  or  glowing  as  those  of  his  venerated  colleague, 
but   they   were   real.     They    faithfully    represented  the 

*  Faith  and  Progress  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  pp.  196,  197, 


160  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CIIUNDER    SEN. 

temptations,  follies,  wickednesses,  longings,  and  aspira- 
tions of  our  plain  poor  humanity.    Time  and  experience 
have  tried  the   respective  merits   of  the    two   orders   of 
devotion.     The    fervour    and    sweetness  of  Devendra's 
spirituality   spent  themselves   on   a  hard,   quarrelsome, 
unappreciative  world,  and  drove  him  in  despondency  to 
re-seek  the  solitary  mountains  which  for  a  long  time  have 
been  the  home  of  his  old  age  :  whereas  Keshub's  solid 
piety  grew,  expanded,   deepened,   matured,   and   name- 
lessly  sweetened  under  the  fiery  trials   through  which 
he  went  for  the  next  few  years.     But   there   was   deeper 
difference  still.     Devendra  was  impulsive,   very  sensi- 
tive, conservative,  autocratic,   and  settled  in  his  views. 
He   wanted   to  establish  a  model  Hindu  society,   and 
revive  the  ancient  Hinduism  of  the  Upanishads  in  the 
Brahmo    Somaj.     Keshub    was    calm,     self-contained, 
inured  to  mental  loneliness,  but  he  had  not  yet  formed 
his    ideals.     A   vast   perspective   of    change,  progress, 
activity  was  before  him.     He  was    every  day  growing 
with  his  cause.     The  Infinite  and   the   Unknown   drew 
him,   and  he  was  determined  to  go  where  it  led.     He 
wanted  to  establish  a  new  society,  and  a  new  religion. 
Devendra  derived   his  ancestry   from  the  Brahmins  of 
Kanyakubja,    and    had    always    a    constitutional    par- 
tiality for  the  sacred  caste.     The  pulpit  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  which  was  theologically  an  anti-caste  institution, 
was  up  to  this  time  uncontaminated  by  Sudra  ministry  of 
any  kind.     The  rule  was  first  broken  in  Keshub's  favour. 
On    the   contrary  Keshub,  though  not  a  Sudra,  never 
abounded  in  traditional  reverence  for  any  class,  or  order. 


DEVENDRA   AND   KESHUB   CONTRASTED.  161 

His  genius  recognized  genius  and  talent  as  only  worthy 
of  honour.     He   divested   not   a   few   of    his    Brahmin 
companions    of    their    sacred     thread.      It   cannot    be 
denied  on  such  points  his   ideas   were  a  good  deal  re- 
volutionary.    Devendra  Nath,  though  discarding  idola- 
try, was  a  strict  observer  of  the  proprieties  and  sacra- 
ments of  Hindu  marriage.     Widow  marriage  was  to  him 
a   disag'reeable   thing,    and    intermarriage   still    worse. 
Keshub    on    the    other    hand,    had  to    deal  with   the 
excommunicated,   the   youthful,    the   widowed,  the  un 
married,    the    unendowed   men    and    women,     seeking 
settlement  in  faith,  life,   character,   in   the  relationships 
of  home,  sympathy,    and  society.     The  demands  of  the 
new  generation  fell  upon   him   thick   and  fast  waiting 
for  a   ready  response.     He  had  imbibed  new  ideas  with 
his  mother's  milk.     His  heart  yearned  after  those  men 
and    women,    who    could   not    approach   the    Pradhan 
Acharya  in  his  exalted  dignity,  but   who  looked   up   to 
him  as  their  natural  leader,  brother,  and  helper.     And 
hence,  though  himself  bred  in  an  aristocratic  household, 
Keshub   readily    took   to  the  new  tendencies,  but  never 
made    any  unnecessary  fuss   about  them.     He   quietly 
waited  for  his  opportunity,  and  when  that  came,  did  not 
hesitate  to   identify  himself  with   radical  reforms  of  all 
kinds.    Brahmans,  minus  their  sacred  thread,  and  Sudras 
cured   of  their  reverence  for  Brahmans,  ate,  mixed,  and 
married  together,  and  the    Brahmo   Somaj   proposed  to 
make   short   work   of   the   time-honoured   traditions   of 
the  great    Hindu    society   around.      The  Brahmanand- 
idal    (associates    of    Brahmananda)    shocked    and    re- 

21 


1 62  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN, 

volutionized    every     orthodox    prejudice   of    the    staid, 
slow-going,  elderly  Brahmos.     Thus  the  varying  ambi- 
tions  and   ideas  in  the  minds  of  the  two  leaders,  united 
in  the  bonds  of  the  heavenliest  friendship,  nevertheless 
produced    their    necessary    consequence.      Youth    and 
ardour,  even  under  the  wholesome  restraint  of  the  sincer- 
est  personal  reverence,  thirsted  after  unlimited  progress, 
and  social  re-embodiments.    It  must  be  readily  admitted, 
however,  that  under  the  protecting  shadow  of  Devendra's 
paternal     encouragement,     Keshub's    forward,     fertile 
efforts  found  abundant  scope.     But  the  sagacious  young 
man   could   not   but   mark  that   there  were  times  and 
subjects  on  which  his  revered  friend's  principles  were 
immovable.    He  honoured  these  principles,  and  said  little 
about  them.     But  for  his  own  part  he  meant  to  act  and 
advance  in  spite  of  them.     On  the  other  hand,  to  the 
infinite  credit  of  Devendra  Nath  be  it   said,  that  with 
all  his  widom,   experience,   and  insight,   his  generosity 
yielded   an  unquestioning  confidence  to  his  enthusiastic 
colleague,  and   he   made  greater  compromises  to   Ke- 
shub's new  methods   of  action  than  he  had  done  ever 
before  to   any  other  man.     But  Devendra  felt  in  the 
mind  of  his  mind    that  he  could  not  control  his  ardent 
friend.     All  his   broad,   self-forgetful,   unworldly   affec- 
tionateness   could   not   avail  him,  but  he  now  and  then 
felt  an  unpleasant  hitch  when  brought  to  deal   with  the 
sharp  rugged    resolutions   of  the  untamed   young   en- 
thusiast.    Devendra  Nath   sometimes   complained   that 
he  could  never  get  to  the  heart  of  his  beloved  colleague, 
and  Keshub  in  his  impenetrable  reserve  kept  his  own 


THE   SECESSION.  1 63 

counsel.  This  course  of  mutual  forbearance  and  tolera- 
tion, which  did  not  diminish,  but  added  picturesqueness 
and  depth  to  their  mutual  relations,  went  on  till  the  end 
of  1864,  very  nearly  for  six  years.  But  the  unuttered 
contrarieties  of  moral  ideals  must  some  day  come  to  an 
avowed  reckoning.  Circumstances  force  unexpected 
emergencies  upon  the  conscience  when  the  very  best 
friends  have  to  part  company,  and  accomplished  con- 
duct sternly  demands  a  continuity  of  principle  and  duty. 
The  divergencies  of  principles  in  the  two  men  began 
to  accentuate  themselves.  Keshub  insisted  on  reforms, 
Devendra  Nath  discouraged  them.  He  was  mortified, 
apprehensive,  dubious.  Keshub  inwardly  perceived  this, 
and  wanted  that  the  affairs  of  the  Somaj  should  be 
administered  by  the  public  voice,  and  constitutional 
principles.  Devendra  had  no  faith  in  the  public. 
Elderly  and  interested  persons,  who  had  long  enjoyed 
the  Brahmo  name  without  deserving  it,  and  hovered, 
not  without  motives,  around  the  prosperity  of  the 
Pradhan  Acharya,  began  to  deal  in  their  congenial 
trade  of  carrying  stories.  There  was  a  deep  struggle 
in  Devendra' s  mind  between  private  feelings  and  public 
duty.  He  thought  duty  demanded  he  should  make  a 
determined  stand,  and  nip  these  ambitious  reforms  in 
the  bud.  He  began  by  cancelling  the  arrangement  by 
which  Brahmin  ministers,  wearing  the  badge  of  their 
caste,  were  no  longer  admissible  to  the  ministry.  He 
re-admitted  them  to  the  pulpit. 

It  came  about  thus.   In  the  great  cyclone  of  Oct.  1865, 
the  old  building  of  the  Adi  Somaj  at  Jorasanko   was    so 


164  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

far  damaged  that  the  weekly  Divine  service  had  to  be 
removed  thence  to  the  dwelling  house  of  Devendra 
Nath  Tagore.  While  there,  one  Wednesday  in  November 
it  was  so  arranged  that  before  the  newly  elected  Upa- 
charyas  (assistant  ministers,  who  had  renounced  their 
Brahminical  thread)  arrived,  the  two  former  Upachary- 
as,  who  had  been  deposed  for  retaining  their  sacred 
thread  by  the  authority  of  Devendra  Nath  himself,  were 
installed  into  the  pulpit  again.  In  order  that  this  might 
be  done  without  hindrance,  the  devotional  proceedings 
were  begun  a  few  minutes  earlier  than  the  appointed 
time.  When  on  arrival  at  the  place  of  worship  Keshub 
and  his  friends  witnessed  this  irregularity,  they  left 
the  service  and  warmly  protested.  Devendra  Nath 
replied  that  as  the  service  was  being  held  in  his  private 
house  he  had  the  right  to  make  what  arrangement  he 
liked.  But  Keshub's  party  insisted  that  it  was  the 
public  worship  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  only  transferred 
for  a  little  interval  to  his  house  by  the  consent 
of  the  congregation,  and  if  he  chose  to  violate  the 
rules  of  the  ministry  laid  down  under  his  own  pre- 
sidency, they  must  decline  to  join  such  services  in 
future.  Thus  began  the  act  of  secession  from  the 
parent  Somaj  at  Jorasanko.  From  a  seeming  insuffi- 
ciency of  occasion,  but  from  sheer  psychological  neces- 
sity, the  first  great  rupture  of  Brahmo  relations  took 
place.  Alas,  how  many  secessions,  schisms,  and 
ruptures  were  involved  in  this  first  separation  !  If 
Keshub  had  anticipated  all  these  troubles  would  he 
have  separated?     Ought  he  not  to  have  tried  to  find  some 


THE   SECESSION.  1 65 

means  of  keeping  up  a  semblance  of  communion  with 
the  original  body,  though  he  should  have  created  for  him- 
self an  independent  field  of  activity  r  He  did  try,  he  must 
have  felt  some  foreshadowing  fear  of  the  effects  of  the 
separation.  He  proposed  a  separate  day  of  public 
worship  in  the  Somaj  building,  apart  from  the  usual 
Wednesday  service,  for  himself  and  his  friends.  He 
repeatedly  endeavoured  to  arrange  united  festivals 
during  the  anniversary.  But  to  no  purpose.  Deven- 
dra  had  finally  made  up  his  mind,  and  was  inexor- 
able. He  feared  that  any  continuance  of  relations  with 
these  young  firebrands  would  lead  to  endless  troubles  in 
future.  The  secession  alone  could  solve  the  difficulty. 
Retiring  with  his  friends  from  the  Adi,  then  called  the 
Calcutta  Brahmo  Somaj,  Keshub  never  suffered  for  a 
day  his  reverence  and  affection  for  Pradhan  Acharya 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore  to  abate,  The  official  and  pri- 
vate correspondence  he  conducted  was  firm,  sometimes 
strongly  worded,  but  his  personal  attitude  to  his  vener- 
able friend  was  submissive  in  the  extreme.  Before  the 
formal  parting  he  presented  to  the  latter  an  eloquent  and 
feeling  address,  acknowledging  his  invaluable  services 
to  the  cause  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  the  spiritual 
help  derived  from  his  ministrations  by  every  member  of 
the  Theistic  Church.*  Be  it  said  also  that  Devendra 
Nath  Tagore  never  lost  his  interest  in  his  young  friends, 

*  The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  parting  address  presented  by 
Keshub  to  the  Pradhan  Acharya. 

To  the  Venerable  Maharshi  Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  Pradhan  Acharya  of 
the  Calcutta  Brahmo  Somaj. 


1 66  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUXDER   SEN. 

and  never  ceased  to   be    anxious    about  their  spiritual 
progiess.     One  unhappy  suspicion,  however,  took  very 

Father, 

When  the  patriotic,  virtuous,  great-soulcd  Raja  Ram  Mohan  Roy  estab. 
lishcd  a  public  place  for  the  holy  worship  of  God  in  Bengal,  the  true  welfare 
of  this  country  began.  Roused  from  the  sleep  of  ignorance  for  ages  Bengal 
received  a  new  life,  and,  freed  from  superstitions,  began  to  walk  independently 
in  the  path  of  progress.  But  that  great  man  being  within  a  short  time 
removed  from  this  world,  the  light  of  Divine  worship  kindled  by  him  came 
very  nearly  to  be  extinct.  At  this  crisis  God  raised  you,  and  placed  in  your 
hands  the  charge  of  the  spiritual  advancement  of  the  country.  The  unselfish 
and  untiring  zeal  with  which  you  have  borne  this  responsibility  for  the  last 
thirty  years,  and  the  endless  good  you  have  done,  binds  us  to  you  in  the  debt 
of  everlasting  gratitude.  To  revive  the  declining  worship  of  God  according 
to  Vedantic  principles,  as  practised  before,  you  founded  the  Society  known 
as  the  Tatwabodhini  Sava  in  Shakabda  1 761  (1839  A.  D.),  where  many 
educated  young  men.  forsook  their  prejudices  by  religious  discussions,  and 
were  able  to  purify  their  hearts  by  the  worship  of  God.  This  Society  made 
rapid  progress,  and  within  a  short  time  was  filled  by  a  numerous  membership. 
In  order  that  the  results  of  your  religious  investigations  might  spread  still 
more  widely  you  founded  in  Shaka  1765  (1843)  the  celebrated  Tatwabodhini 
Patrica.  This  journal  has  truly  reformed  and  ornamented  the  Bengali 
language,  and  disseminated  the  truths  of  spiritual  and  secular  learning  in 
\arious  places  of  Bengal,  and  the  N.-W.  Provinces.  Thus  the  Tatwabodhini 
Sava,  and  the  Brahmo  Somaj  founded  by  Raja  Ram  Mohan  Roy  helping 
each  other,  contributed  to  the  increase  of  the  worshippers  of  God.  In  order 
to  unite  them  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  faith  in  due  time  you  introduced  the 
form  of  initiation  in  Brahmoism  in  1843.  By  this  means  you  established  the 
worshippers  on  the  ground  of  formal  belief,  and  organized  them  into  a  sect 
of  Vedantic  Theism.  Thus  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  developed  into  its  full 
shape,  began  to  grow,  and  branch  Somajes  were  founded  in  different  places. 
But  in  the  advancement  of  true  religion,  errors  cannot  last  for  a  long  time. 
Therefore  the  dangerous  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Vcdas  that 
underlay  these  developments,  as  soon  as  it  was  exposed  in  the  light  of 
knowledge,  you  tried  to  discard  in  obedience  to  conscience,  by  the  command- 
ment of  God,   and  for  the   good  of  the  Brahmo  brotherhood,     By  churning 


PARTING   ADDRESS   TO   D.   N.    TAGORE.  1 67 

deep  root  in  Devendra's  mind.    This  was  that  Keshub  in 
all  his  reforms  and  activities  was  stimulated  by  a  tower- 

the  ocean  of  the  Hindu  shasters  you  had   obtained  the  nectar  of  truth,    but 
when    afterwards    you    found    poison    in   that   nectar,    you  set   yourself    to 
distinguish  the  two,  and  at  last  published  under  the  name  of  Brahma  Dharma 
a  compilation  of  the  truths  of  the  Hindu  scriptures  in  1850.     In  consequence 
the  form  of  initiation  in  the  Brahmo    Somaj    was  also  modified.     By   deep 
contemplation   you   elaborated  a   number   of  fundamental   and   indisputable 
principles   of  Theism,    and   upon   these   you   established    the  Brahmo   com- 
munity.    Thus   organizing  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  for  a  few  years  you  retired  to 
the  Himalayan  mountains.     Stopping  there  for  two  years  your  mind  and  heart 
were  elevated  by   contemplation,  prayer,  study,  and  you  returned  to  Calcutta 
to  devote  yourself  with  redoubled  zeal  to  the   progress   of  the    Somaj   which 
you  had  reformed  before.     You  established  the  Brahmo  School,  where  week 
after  week  you  dispensed  the  pure   saving  knowledge   of  Theism   to   convert 
unto   God  the   hearts  of  many  young  men,  and  your  precepts  collected  in  the 
form  of  a  book  still  help  hundreds  to  understand  the   faith   and   doctrines   of 
the   Brahmo    Somaj.     But  even  then  the  true  nobleness  of  your  soul  was  not 
discovered.     When   as   Pradhan   Acharya   of  the    Calcutta   Brahmo    Somaj 
you  began  to  discourse  from  the  holy  pulpit  on  the  glorious  truths  of  Brahma 
Dharma,  then  indeed  your  deep   and   lofty   sentiments   became   fully   known 
to  the  world,    and   specially   drew   the   hearts  of  men   towards   God.     How 
often   amidst   the  sins   and  sorrows   of  the   world  we  were  refreshed  by  the 
sweet  streams  of  wisdom  that   flowed    from   your  heart ;  how   often  in   the 
Brahmo   Somaj    your  rousing  precepts  have  revived  our  dull  dead  spirits,  and 
in  the  realms  of  the  spirit  you   discovered  for  us,    we   were   cheered  by   the 
beauty   and   profoundness  of  truth,  for  the  time  forgetting  the  world.     These 
heavenly  and  matchless  Bakhyans  (sermons)  have    now    been    published   in 
book-form.     The   benefit   we  derived   from   hearing  them,  we  believe  others 
also  will  derive  who  read  them,  and  that  this   invaluable   book   mil   be   duly 
honoured   in   different   lands.     Thus   have   you   generally  served  the  Brahmo 
community  after  the  ideals  of  your  own  heart,  but   you   have   specially  bene- 
fited a   few   among  us   whom  you  have  treated  as  affectionately  as  your  own 
children.     These  have  felt  the  deep  nobleness  of  your  character,  and  elevated 
by  your   precept,    example,   and   holy   companionship  reverence  you  as  their 
father,  and  regard  you  as  their  true  friend  and   help   in   the   path  of  spiritual 
progress.     They   will   for   all  time  be  bound  to  you  by  the  debt  of  gratitude. 


1 68  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

ing  ambition  for  personal  notoriety,  and  not  so  much  by 
a  desire  to  advance  the  cause  of  true  religion  in  the 
land.  The  prediction  was  freely  made  that  the  social 
revolutions,  so  recklessly  begun,  should,  in  the  end, 
undermine  all  piety  and  devotion.  They  would  end 
in  Keshub's  movement  being  regarded  as  a  clique  of 
denationalized  radicals,  who  were  abjured  by  the  whole 
Hindu  community.  Keshub  and  his  friends  retorted  by 
saying  that  the  Adi  Somaj  would  surely  be  looked  upon 
as  a  useless  survival  of  the  past,  a  body  without  soul,  a 
mere  historical  landmark,  dividing  the  dead  from  the 
living  organization  of  Divine  Theism.  Keshub,  how- 
ever, took  Devendra's  warning  prediction  to  heart, 
and  secretly  resolved,  while  he  carried  on  the  reforms 
he  had  initiated,  never  to  permit  his  movement  to 
drift  into  revolutionary  social  empiricism.  Devendra 
Nath  on  the  other  hand  resolved,  now  that  he  had 
winnowed  away  the  semi-Europeanized  young  inno- 
vators,  to   exalt   the   Brahmo    Somaj    into  its  pristine 

That  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  is  the  religion  of  love,  and  that  it  is 
equally  above  mere  abstract  rationalism,  and  empty  reform,  we  have  learnt 
from  you,  and  by  your  influence  and  teaching  perceived  the  spiritual  holiness, 
and  joy  of  Brahmoism. 

Benefited  extremely  in  these  various  ways  we  present  you  to-day  this 
address  as  the  tribute  of  the  reverence  and  gratitude  of  our  hearts.  It  is  not 
our  object  to  speak  vain  words  of  praise.  Only  stimulated  by  the  sense  of 
duty,  and  heartfelt  thankfulness  we  venture  to  take  this  step.  Do  us  the 
great  favour  to  accept  this  unworthy  testimony.  May  the  great  God  dispense 
unalloyed  joy  to  your  heart,  may  all  your  holy  intentions  be  fulfilled,  and  may 
every  prosperity  attend  you  in  this  life,  as  well  as  in  the  next. 

Calcutta,  Nov.    1866.  KESHUB  CHUNDER   Sin. 

AND    OTHERS. 


THE   DIFFERING    IDEALS.  1 69 

Aryan  purity.  He  wanted  to  re-establish  it  as  the 
model  Hindu  Church  of  the  future,  which  the  nation,  as 
it  outgrew  its  idolatrous  surroundings,  would  learn  to 
regard  as  the  store-house  of  everything  great  and  holy 
in  the  past,  everything  hopeful  and  promising  in  the 
future.  The  two  parties,  however,  younger  and  elder, 
while  they  parted,  parted  in  spite  of  fierce  passages  at 
arms,  not  without  sincere  mutual  respect,  and  unfeigned 
sorrow. 


170  LIIE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DEVOTIONAL  AND  MISSIONARY  EXCITEMENT. 
Beginning  of  Independent  Career,  1866  to  1870. 

rvESHUB  signalized  the  commencement  of  an  inde- 
pendent career,  thus  thrust  upon  him  by  circum- 
stances, in  the  establishment  of  the  Bahmo  Somaj  of 
India  on  the  nth  November  1866.  The  separation  had 
taken  place  nearly  a  twelvemonth  before,  but  all  this 
time  was  spent  in  making  protests  and  representations 
to  secure  public  sympathy,  as  well  as  in  diverse  negocia- 
tions,  with  a  view  to  some  settlement  of  differences. 
But  these  negociations  came  to  nothing.  Keshub  spoke 
to  a  crowded  audience  on  the  "  Struggles  for  Indepen- 
dence and  Progress  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,"  and  held 
various  meetings.  He  had  the  "Indian  Mirror"  news- 
paper in  his  hands  now,  the  possession  of  which 
he  secured  after  much  difficulty.  He  issued  a  verna- 
cular journal  called  the  Dharma  Tatwa  in  opposition 
to  the  Tatwabodhini  which  was  Devendra's  organ.  How 
were  the  two  parties  balanced  ?  The  Pradhan  Acharya 
had  a  number  of  elderly  adherents,  and  his  accom- 
plished sons,  some  of  whom  were  of  the  same  age  as 
Keshub,  helped  his  cause  energetically.  But  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Keshub's  enthusiasm  and  genius  drew  all 
the  youth  and   intelligence  of  the   community,  and  his 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  BRAHMO  SOMA  J  OF  INDIA.    171 

important  reforms  attracted  the  sympathy  of  influential 
outsiders.     The  Brahmo  community  up   to   then   was  a 
disorganized  mass,  and  Keshub's  first  effort  was  to  bind 
it    together    into   a   body   of  believers,    to   give  them 
a    constitution    by    which    they    might   control   their 
affairs,    elect   their   office-bearers,   raise    and    disburse 
their  funds.     It   was  also  his   object   to  take  effective 
measures    to    propagate   the     principles    of    our     reli- 
gion.    So  the  introductory  speech  which  Keshub  made 
at   the   meeting  on  the  nth  November  when  the  new 
Brahmo  Somaj  was  founded,  ran  thus  : — "  We  have  met 
here  to  discharge  a  most  important  duty,  a  duty  which 
we  owe  to  ourselves,  to  our  church,  and  to  India.     Our 
present  object  is  simply  to  organize  and  incorporate  the 
Brahmo  community,  to  establish  such  enduring  bonds  of 
sympathy  and  union  among  the  several  members  of  our 
community  as  are  essential  to  their  individual  and  com- 
mon  welfare,  to   the  consolidation  and  growth  of  our 
Church,  and   to   the   effectual   propagation  of  Brahma 
Dharma  (Theism).     For  this  purpose  God  has  gathered 
us  together  this  evening.     May  He  enable  us  to  achieve 
it.     We   see   around   us   a   large   number   of    Brahmo 
Somajes  in  different  parts  of  the  country  for  the  congre- 
gational worship  of  the  One  True  God,    and  hundreds 
upon  hundreds  of  men  professing  the  Brahmo  faith  ;  we 
have  besides  missionaries  going  about   in  all  directions 
to  preach  the  saving  truths  of  Brahma  Dharma  ;  books 
and  tracts  inculcating  these  truths  are  also  being  pub- 
lished from  time  to  time.     To  unite  all  such   Brahmos 
and  form  them  into  a  body,  to  reduce  their  in-dividual 


172  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

and  collective  labours  into  a  vast,  but  well  organized 
system  of  unity  and  co-operation — this  is  all  that  is 
sought  to  be  accomplished  at  the  present  meeting. 
Professing  a  common  faith,  it  is  our  duty  to  combine  for 
the  common  good,  and  not  to  remain  isolated,  and  be  re- 
gardless of  each  other.  We  must  endeavour  to  realize, 
so  far  as  lies  in  our  power,  the  True  Ideal  of  the  Church 
of  God,  we  must  form  a  truly  Theistic  Brotherhood,  a 
Family  of  God's  children  of  which  He  is  our  common 
Father  and  Head,  that  holy  Kingdom  of  Heaven  of 
which  He  is  the  Eternal  King."  The  resolution  adopted 
at  the  meeting,  and  drafted  by  Keshub  was  this. 
"  Whereas  the  trustees  of  the  Calcutta  Brahmo  Somaj 
have  taken  over  to  themselves  the  charge  of  the  whole 
property  of  the  said  Somaj,  and  the  connections  of  the 
public  with  the  said  property  have  ceased,  and  whereas 
the  money  subscribed  by  the  public  should  be  spent 
with  the  consent  of  the  public ;  it  is  resolved  at  this 
meeting  that  the  subscribers  or  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  be  formally  organized  into  a  Society,  and  that 
subscriptions  be  spent  in  accordance  to  their  wishes  for 
the  propagation  of  Brahmoism."  This  was  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  of  India.  We  wanted  naturally  to  make  Keshub 
the  head  of  the  society  so  formed.  But  he  declined  ; 
he  caused  it  to  be  declared  in  a  resolution  that  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  had  no  human  head,  "  God 
alone  was  its  head."  Keshub  modestly  undertook  to  be 
its  Secretary.  He  made  its  membership  include  every 
race,  community,  all  men  and  women  whoever  might 
wish  to  join   it.     Selections  from  all  the   scriptures  of 


PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  BRAHMO  SOMA  J  OF  INDIA.        1 73 

all  nations  of  the  world  were  compiled  to   form  its  text 
book  of  devotional  lessons,  and  for  the  first  time  extracts 
from  the  Bible,  Koran,  Zendavesta,  and  the  Hindu  Shas- 
ters  stood   side  by  side  as  the  scriptures  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj.     Men  from  all  parts  of  the  country  became  its 
members,   men  whom   Keshub  in  his  extensive  travels 
had   known    to    be   enthusiastic    Theists   in    Bombay, 
Madras,   and  the  Punjab.     Our  motto  in  Sanskrit  com- 
posed by  Pandit    Gour  Govind  Roy  was  this  : — "  The 
wide  universe  is  the  temple  of  God  ;    Wisdom  is  the 
pure    land   of   pilgrimage ;    Truth   is   the    everlasting 
scripture  ;  Faith  is  the  root  of  all  religion  ;  Love  is   the 
true  spiritual  culture ;  the  Destruction  of  Selfishness  is 
the  true  asceticism  :  So  declare  the  Brahmos."     Thus 
Keshub  laid  the  foundations  of  a  Universal  Church,  the 
principles  and  operations  of  which   were  enlarged  and 
worked  with  a  vigour  that  promised  a  great  future.    The 
venerable  Devendra  Nath  could  not  but  anticipate  the 
success  of  such  a  movement,  before  which,  he  felt,  his 
own  Somaj  would  look  very  much  diminished.  He  wished 
the  latter  to  retain  its  character  as   the  original  parent 
organization  of  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  and  changed 
its  name  from  the   Calcutta  Brahmo    Somaj    into   the 
Adi    Brahmo    Somaj.     But   if    Keshub    Chunder   Sen 
founded  a  Universal  Church,  it  was  his  object  also  to 
establish  an  apostolic  body  who  would  be  its  elders  and 
teachers.    With  this  object  he  started  the  mission  depart- 
ment of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India.    We  have  already 
said  that  from  the  beginning  Keshub  had    a   band  of 
devoted  followers   of  about  his  own   age.     These  men 


174  LIFE   0F  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

were  now  formed  into  a  body  of  missionaries.  They 
were  the  members  of  the  old  Sangat  Sava,  and  they 
were  destined  to  be  in  future  the  Apostles  of  the  New 
Dispensation. 

Thus  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  began  its  career  as 
an  Apostolical  as  well  as  Universal  Church.     Every  one 
of  its  missionaries  under  Keshub's  example,  took  the 
vow  of  poverty  in  his  heart.  They  did  not  count  in  those 
days,  including  Keshub  himself,  more  than  seven  or  eight 
men.     Now  they  are  three  times  that  number,  but  the 
spirit  of  enthusiastic  self-sacrifice  they  then  showed  has 
not  been  surpassed  at  any  time.    Every  one  resigned  his 
place  and  prospects  of  life,  offered  his  life-long  services 
to  the  Church,    and  willingly   threw    himself  into    the 
midst  of  all  manner  of  privations.     They  daily  took  out 
a  few  peices  of  copper  from  the  leader's  writing  box  to 
buy  their  necessaries,  and   that   box   never   contained 
much,  they  spent  the  day  in  prayer,   study,  contempla- 
tion,   religious    conversation,    and    other    occupations 
worthy  of  their  calling.     One  of  them  had  a  dangerous 
chest-disease,  and  he  had  no  warm  clothing  of  any  kind. 
They   had  to  feed  and  clothe  themselves  insufficiently. 
The  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  had  no  funds  in  those  days. 
But  its  missionaries,  who  were  its  servants  and  directors, 
were  only  the  more  stimulated  the  more  they  sacrified 
themselves.     Their  own  lives  supplied  them  with   the 
gospel  of  practical  religion.     They  first  lived  and  then 
preached  the  doctrine  of  "  Think  not  for  the   morrow." 
Their  asceticism  grew  in  them  before  they  knew  how  to 
name  it.     They  came  never  expecting  any  salary,  never 


THE   FIRST   BRAHMO   MISSIONARIES.  1 75 

taking  any  remuneration,  they  resigned  their  all  to  their 
Church.     Their    calling    and   their   self-sacrifice   made 
their    faith    intense,    gave   fervor    to    their   devotions, 
moulded   their   characters,   defined  their  relationships. 
Their   devotions   and    mutual    relations    formed    their 
views,  and  shaped  their  ideas.    The  spirit  of  Providence 
created   in  them,    and   through  them  the  future  charac- 
ter of   the    Church   of   the   New   Dispensation.     They 
travelled   from  place   to   place  with  a   fierce   and   all- 
suffering   zeal.     Wherever  they  went  Somajes  started 
into  being,  enthusiasm  was  kindled,   and  reforms   ger- 
minated.    Through   their   agency   the   Brahmo   Somaj 
entered   into   an   untried   field   of    religious   life.     The 
cause  began  to  make  unforeseen  and  unexpected  pro- 
gress.    Years  have  gradually  added  to  the  numerical 
strength   and  practical  importance  of  this   missionary 
organization.     But   the   Brahmo    Somaj    in    the    New- 
Dispensation  still  retains  its  old  missionary  character  of 
apostolic  purity.  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  could  never  have 
accomplished  much  without  the  moral  support  of  such 
men.    It  is  indeed  true  that  he  educated  them  ;  but  they 
also  educated  him  by  indirect  influence.    He  never  con- 
cealed the  fact  that  they  were  his  superiors   in  certain 
respects,  whereas  they  looked  upon  him  as  the  incarna- 
tion of  everything  good. 

Thus  started  and  progressed  Keshub's  new  move- 
ment. But  in  the  midst  of  all  its  activity  he  could  not 
but  feel  now  and  then  forsaken  and  hard-pressed. 
Who  was  there,  alas,  among  his  youthful  companions 
that  could  take  Devendra  Nath's    place   in   his   heart, 


176  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN 

or  comprehend  his  trials,  or  comfort  him  in  his 
anxieties,  and  sorrows  ?  He  retired  to  an  ancestral  gar- 
den in  the  suburbs,  lived  alone,  thinking  and  writ- 
ing a  great  deal.  Suddenly  in  the  beginning  of 
the  very  hot  month  of  March  1866,  he  announced 
a  lecture,  somewhat  sensationally  worded,  on  "  Jesus 
Christ,  Europe  and  Asia."  The  Calcutta  Medical 
College  Theatre  was  engaged  for  the  occasion,  and  was 
crowded  from  floor  to  ceiling,  there  being  a  good 
number  of  Englishmen  present,  and  some  Christian 
Missionaries  also  came  with  their  wives.  "  Jesus 
Christ,  Europe  and  Asia"  laid  the  first  stone  of  the 
colossal  reputation  which  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  soon 
achieved  as  an  orator,  and  teacher  of  original  reli- 
gion. This  was  the  first  time  he  made  any  public  utter- 
ance on  his  estimate  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Christ, 
and  not  a  few  Christian  Missionaries  entertaine  d 
high  hopes  of  his  speedy  conversion  to  Christianity. 
He  began  by  extolling  Christ  as  a  great  man  and  a 
reformer.  "  Christ's  influence,"  said  he,  "  but  a  small 
rivulet  at  first,  increased  in  depth  and  breadth  as  it 
rolled  along,  and  swept  away  in  its  irresistible  tide  the 
impregnable  strongholds  of  error  and  superstition,  and 
the  accumulated  corruptions  of  centuries."  He  de- 
scribed Christ's  mission  thus  : — "  Sent  by  Providence  to 
reform  and  regenerate  mankind,  he  received  from  Provi- 
dence power  and  wisdom  for  that  great  work."  He  set 
forth  on  the  one  hand  in  glowing  sentences  the  moral 
greatness  of  Christ  as  well  as  "  his  tenderness  and 
humility,  lamb-like  meekness  and  sympathy,  his  heart 


FIRST   UTTERANCES   ON   JESUS    CHRIST.  1 77 

full  of  mercy  and  forgiving  kindness,"  and  spoke  on  the 
other  hand  of  "  his  firm,  resolute,  unyielding  adherence 
to  truth,"  and  then  exclaimed  in  a  breathless  climax, 
"  Verily,  Jesus  was  above  ordinary  humanity  !"  Well 
meaning  Christian  friends  were  on  the  tiptoe  of  expecta- 
tion, and  concluded  that  the  Brahmo  Somaj  was  not 
far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  few  men  at 
the  time  took  sufficient  heed  to  follow  the  line  of  senti- 
ment which  the  Brahmo  teacher  struck  out  for  himself, 
while  expatiating  on  the  more  than  human  excellences  of 
the  character  and  precepts  of  Jesus.  Upon  that  line 
he  worked  systematically,  with  results  that  very  much 
surprised  his  admirers.  "  Was  not  Jesus,"  he  asked 
"  an  Asiatic  ?  I  rejoice,  yea,  I  am  proud — that  I  am  an 
Asiatic.  In  fact  Christianity  was  founded  and  deve- 
loped by  Asiatics  in  Asia.  When  I  reflect  on  this,  my 
love  for  Jesus  becomes  a  hundred-fold  intensified.  I 
feel  Him  nearer  my  heart,  and  deeper  in  my  national 
sympathies.  Shall  I  not  rather  say  He  is  more  akin 
and  congenial  to  my  Oriental  nature,  more  agreeable 
to  my  Oriental  habits  of  thought  and  feeling  ?  .  .  .  . 
In  Christ,  we  see  not  only  the  exaltedness  of  humanity, 
but  also  the  grandeur  of  which  Asiatic  nature  is  sus- 
ceptible. The  more  this  fact  is  pondered,  the  less  I 
hope  will  be  the  antipathy  and  hatred  of  European 
Christians  against  Oriental  nationalities,  and  the 
greater  the  interest  of  the  Asiatics  in  the  teachings  of 
Christ."  Few  at  the  time  could  divine  that  Keshub 
meant  to  elaborate  an  original  view  of  Christ  and 
Christianity  from  this  unostentations  beginning.  Every 
23 


178  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

one  was  surprised,  and  great  numbers  were  instructed 
by  the  light  of  genius  and  eloquence  with  which  he  held 
forth  on  the  moral  and  spiritual  greatness  of  the  Prophet 
of  Nazareth.  He  conquered  at  the  very  first  attack 
men's  prejudices  against  the  religion  of  Christ.  But  the 
conquest  was  not  without  its  disagreeable  consequences. 
Rumours  were  set  afloat,  and  significant  comments  were 
exchanged  on  Keshub's  growing  tendency  towards  evan- 
gelical Christianity.  The  wiseacres  of  the  Adi  Somaj 
congratulated  themselves  upon  their  policy  of  weeding 
out  from  their  movement  this  insidious  and  incipient 
element  of  Christian  heresy.  It  was  broadly  hinted 
that  Keshub  being  now  driven  away  from  his  own 
Church  was  eager  to  seek  shelter  in  the  fold  of 
the  Christian  Missionaries.  Keshub  very  keenly 
felt  the  edge  of  this  ill-natured  criticism.  But  if 
some  were  repelled,  others  were  much  attracted  by 
what  he  said.  The  present  writer  was  so  agreeably 
struck  with  the  high  enthusiasm,  and  deep  appreciation 
Keshub  displayed  towards  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Messiah, 
that  himself,  having  somewhat  far  gone  in  personal 
relationship  towards  that  glorious  being,  he  demanded 
to  know  Keshub's  whole  mind  on  the  subject.  The 
following  significant  reply  was  sent : — 

Maniktotta>  \§th  May,  1866. 

My  Dear  Protap, — I  am  sorry  I  cannot  send  you  the 
book  so  soon,  as  I  wish  to  see  the  first  chapter  repro- 
duced in  the  Dharmatatwa.  Nor  can  I  at  present 
comply  with  your  request  to  come  and  see  you  at  Gar  if  a, 


FIRST  UTTERANCES   ON  JESUS   CHRIST.  179 

this  is  not  the  time  for  a  pleasure  trip  like  that ; 
besides  I  am  born  not  to  enjoy  but  to  endure.  As 
regards  my  recent  lecture,  you  ought  to  remember  that 
I  was  never  ambitious  of  making  Jesus  Christ  the  sub- 
ject of  a  learned  literary  essay  or  theological  discourse. 
Unless  I  can  live  Jesus  to  some  extent  at  least,  I 
cannot  talk  Jesus.  Nor  could  I  undertake  to  preach 
Jesus  to  my  countrymen  till  I  am  fully  persuaded  that 
the  time  has  come  for  such  preaching.  In  other  words 
I  must  be  fit,  and  the  age  must  be  fit,  before  I  can 
wield  the  sword  which  that  inspired  Prophet  brought 
with  him  into  the  work.  Of  course  I  have  my  own 
ideas  about  Christ,  but  I  am  not  bound  to  give  them  out 
in  due  form,  until  altered  circumstances  of  the  country 
gradually  develope  them  out  of  my  mind.  Jesus  is  iden- 
tical with  self-sacrifice,  and  as  he  lived  and  preached 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  so  must  he  be  in  turn  preached 
in  the  fulness  of  time.  The  more  is  sacrifice  needed  in 
India,  and  the  more  it  is  made,  the  more  will  Jesus  find 
a  home  in  this  land.  I  am,  therefore,  patiently  waiting 
that  I  may  grow  with  the  age  and  the  nation,  and  the 
spirit  of  Christ's  sacrifice  may  grow  therewith. 

"  Yours  AfTly. 

K.  C.  Sen." 
The  book  which  in  the  beginning  oi  the  letter  he  says 
he  could  not  lend,  the  first  chapter  of  which  he  wanted 
to  reproduce,  was  Ecce  Homo  by  Professor  Seely,  then 
recently  come  out  from  England,  and  lent  to  him  by 
Dr.  George  Smith,  then  Editor  of  the  Friend  of  India. 
He    read    the    book,    and    was    its    enthusiastic    ad- 


180  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

mirer.  There  is  no  doubt  it  greatly  helped  to  make 
up  his  estimate  of  the  moral  value  of  Christ's  teach- 
ings. Ecce  Homo's  suggestions  did  incalculable 
good  to  Keshub,  and  his  friends.  For  a  long  time  we 
discussed  the  book  with  interest,  and  conspicuous  benefit. 
But  in  the  course  of  time  Keshub  ceased  to  speak  of  Ecce 
Homo,  and  drew  his  further  views  of  Christ  from 
Oriental  ideals,  which  his  own  genius  and  spiritual 
experiences  pourtrayed  to  him.  The  misunderstandings 
and  evil  reports  caused  by  the  lecture  were  painful 
enough,  but  they  were  not  without  their  advantage. 
They  drew  upon  him  the  attention  of  great  officials, 
chief  among  whom  was  Lord  Lawrence,  then  Governor- 
General  of  India.  Lord  Lawrence  was  on  the  hills  at 
the  time,  but  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  lecture, 
a  copy  of  which  had  been  sent  him  by  the  late  lamented 
Mr.  Norman,  a  Judge  of  the  High  Court,  that  the  Viceroy's 
Private  Secretary  wrote  him  a  letter  intimating  His  Ex- 
cellency's wish  to  make  the  lecturer's  acquaintance  when 
the  Government  returned  to  the  plains  in  the  cold 
weather.  This  was  the  origin  of  that  friendship  between 
Lord  Lawrence  and  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  the  results  of 
which,  beneficial  as  they  were  to  the  latter  personally, 
were  still  more  beneficial  to  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The 
wide-spread  misrepresentations,  however,  that  found 
currency  about  Keshub's  views  and  tendencies  after  the 
lecture  on  Jesus  Christ,  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
explain  his  real  position  to  the  public.  Hence  five 
months  later  he  had  to  deliver  his  well-known  discourse 
on  u  Great  Men  '    in  the  Town  Hall  of  Calcutta.     This 


LECTURE   ON   GREAT  MEN.  l8l 

was  the  first  time  he  appeared  in  our  chief  metropolitan 
building,  afterwards  the  scene  of  his   annual  orations, 
heard    by    so   many   thousands.     The   great   sensation 
caused  by  his  first   lecture,   and  the  important  conse- 
quences  to   the   Brahmo    Somaj    which    it    seemed    to 
involve,  amply  justified  him  in  securing  the  most  public 
place  he  could   find.     The  hall  was  well-filled   by   an 
attentive  and   applauding    audience.     In  the  lecture  on 
Great   Men,   Keshub  elucidated  the  philosophy  of  his 
previous  utterances,  and  gave  a  forecast  of  his  future 
developments.      It    contained    the    substratum    of   his 
doctrine  of  Prophets,  the  germ  of  his   ideas    of  Trinity, 
and   the  essence  of  his  views  on   Providence  and    In- 
spiration.    He  described  the  revelation  of  God  to  man  to 
be  threefold.     First  in  order  is  the  revelation  of  God  in 
Nature.  "  Behold  the  Supreme  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the 
Universe    immanent   in    matter."     "  There  is    another 
revelation  ;  there  is  God  in   History.     He  who  created 
and  upholds  this  vast  universe,   also  governs  the  des- 
tinies and  affairs  of  nations."     The   third  revelation  is 
God  in  the  Soul.    "  The  highest  revelation  is  inspiration 
where  Spirit  communes  with  spirit,  face  to  face,  without 
any  mediation   whatever."     He  largely   expatiated  on 
the  second  form  of  revelation,   and  explained  the    doc- 
trine  of  Incarnation  thus,    "  True    incarnation    is  not, 
as    popular    theology    defines    it,     the    absolute    per- 
fection of  the  Divine  nature   embodied  in  mortal  form  ; 
it  is  not  the  God  of   the  universe  putting  on  a  human 
body,  the  Infinite  becoming  finite  in  space  and  time,  in 
intelligence  and  power.     It  simply  means   God  mani- 


I  82  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

fest  in  humanity ; — not  God  made  man,  but  God  in 
man,"  "  Great  Men,"  he  said  "are  above  ordinary 
humanity.  It  is  true  they  are  men  ;  but  who  will  deny 
they  are  above  ordinary  humanity  ?  Though  human, 
they  are  Divine.  This  is  the  striking  peculiarity  of  all 
Great  Men.  In  them  we  see  a  strange  and  mysterious 
combination  of  the  human  and  Divine  nature,  of  the 
earthly  and  the  heavenly.  It  is  easy  to  distinguish 
a  great  man,  but  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  him." 

This  well-meant  explanation,  however,  instead  of 
clearing  his  position,  only  made  it  more  obscure.  For 
men  did  not  interpret  him  through  his  own  teachings,  but 
through  the  prejudices  they  had  already  formed  of  his 
tendencies.  His  Christian  missionary  friends  discovered 
that  their  hopes  of  his  "  conversion  "  were  built  upon 
sand,  and  soon  loudly  charged  him  with  having  recant- 
ed. They  expressed  the  suspicion  that  his  views 
on  Jesus  Christ,  having  caused  him  unpopularity,  he 
explained  them  away  by  assigning  to  other  great  men 
the  same  position  which  he  had  previously  assigned  to 
Jesus  alone.  Keshub's  friends  in  England  defended 
him,  but  he  himself  did  not  try  to  give  any  more  expla- 
nations. Nay,  he  conceived  a  strong  dislike  of  expla- 
nations and  apologies  in  future.  He  perhaps  felt  that 
the  time  of  teaching  about  Jesus,  and  other  prophets  had 
not  yet  come.  So,  for  thirteen  years,  he  held  his  peace. 
The  only  exception  to  his  public  silence  on  this  subject 
was  what  he  said  in  England,  but  in  the  meanwhile  a 
rapid  development  of  faith  and  principles  on  the  subject 
of  Christ  and  Christianity  was  taking  place  in  his  mind. 


MISSIONARY  TOUR  IN  EAST  BENGAL.  I  83 

Torwards  the   end   of  the   same   year   (1866)  Keshub 
made    a    memorable    tour    through    the    provinces    of 
East  Bengal,    visiting   Faridpur,    Dacca,   and  Mymen- 
sing.     The    population    of    this    part    of  the    country, 
always    most   teachable    and    susceptible,    was   thrown 
into  a  state  of  great  agitation  by  his  missionary  labours. 
Being  accompanied  by  the  two  enthusiastic  and  saintly 
men  Bejai  Krishna  Goswami,   and  Aghor  Nath  Gupta, 
Keshub    at    this    time    laid    the    foundation    of    that 
Eastern  Brahmo  Church  which  has  borne  such  abundant 
spiritual    harvests.      Bhai    Banga    Chandra     Rai,    the 
Local  Minister  of  East  Bengal,  and  his   many  mission- 
aries,   who   receive   the   respect   of   all   parties    in   the 
Brahmo   Somaj,  were  the  fruits  of  those  early  labours. 
The  orthodox  Hindus  were  so  greatly  alarmed  at   these 
successful    activities   that   in    self-defence   they  founded 
the   Hindu   Dharma   Raklishini  Sava  (Society   for   the 
preservation  of  the  Hindu  religion).     This  Society  for  a 
while  systematically  persecuted  the  youthful   Brahmos, 
but  it  had  to  succumb  at  last  to  the  tendencies  of  the 
times,  all  of  which  favoured  the  formation  of  Theistic 
organizations.     In   fact   the   pervading  and  many-sided 
vitality  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj   has    since   that  time,    by 
the  mere  power  of  social  friction,  infused  a  spasmodic 
life  into  the  inert  mass  of  idolatrous  society,   which  has 
sprung   up   into   various   short-lived   organizations  like 
Hari    Sava,    Dharma    Sava,    and   Arya   Sava.     These 
growths,    collateral    and    transitory,  are  only  an   inde- 
pendent evidence  how  the  leaven  of  Brahmo  spirituality 
has  caused  a  fermentation  wherever  it   has   mixed  with 


l8j  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

the  minds  of  men.  They  have  tried  to  counteract  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  by  borrowing  the  spirit,  nay  the  very 
forms  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  itself.  Every  one  of  these 
societies  has  a  close,  though  specious,  resemblance  to 
the  liturgy  and  rituals  of  the  Brahmo  Church. 

In  this  expedition  to  East  Bengal,  Keshub's  nature, 
after  his  great  lectures,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  trials, 
was  fired  with  mystic  faith  and  devouring  enthusiasm. 
He  had  to  suffer  great  privations.  There  was  no  cook 
to  prepare  any  food  for  him,  and  no  good  Hindu  would 
give  him  a  meal.  So  a  miserable  preparation  of  rice 
and  dai  had  to  be  procured  for  him  from  the  adda,  or 
lodgings  of  low-class  Vaishnavas.  He  had  no  proper 
bed,  and  no  fixed  residence.  These  sufferings  which 
did  not  cause  the  least  abatement  of  his  zeal  and 
energy,  shook  his  health.  He  had  fearful  attacks  of 
fever,  and  a  kind  of  brain-disease,  vertigo  accompanied 
with  great  pain,  which  never  completely  left  him  at 
any  time.  In  the  midst  of  these  drawbacks,  while  tra- 
velling in  the  inconvenient  slow  country-boat,  he 
composed  his  tract  on  True  Faith,  one  of  the  great 
master-pieces  he  ever  wrote.  Keshub  had  always  been 
a  man  of  faith.  But  this  little  treatise  proves  the  frenzy 
to  which  this  faith  had  risen  even  at  that  early  age. 
Every  one  ought  to  read  True  Faith  to  get  a  real  insight 
intoKeshub's  religious  constitution.  u  Faith,"  he  defines 
"  is  direct  vision  ;  it  beholdeth  God,  and  it  beholdeth 
immortality.  It  relieth  upon  no  evidence  but  the 
eye-sight,  and  will  have  no  mediation.  It  neither  bor- 
roweth  an  idea  of  God,  from  metaphysics,  nor  a   narra- 


TRUE   FAITH.  1 85 

tive  of  God  from  history.  The  God  of  faith  is  the 
sublime  I  Am.  In  time  He  is  always  now,  in  space 
always  here.  *  *  Faith  holds  a  living  and  loving 
communion  with  Him  who  is  dearer  than  life.  It  estab- 
lished a  personal  relation  *  The  vividness  of  per- 
ception is  equal  to  the  warmth  of  the  heart,  for  in  faith, 
knowledge  and  love,  belief  and  trust  are  one."  He 
gradually  works  out  the  relations  of  Faith  to  immor- 
tality, to  the  moral  law,  to  moral  power,  to  resignation, 
to  joy,  to  self-sacrifice,  to  humility,  to  wisdom,  to 
perpetual  progress  heavenward,  to  singularity  and 
originality,  to  persecution,  to  deification,  to  resurrec- 
tion. In  each  of  these  relations  he  sets  down  pithy 
nervous  utterances  involving  great  principles  which 
shaped  his  subsequent  life.  Here  for  the  first  time 
he  enunciated  prudence  as  "  the  arithmetic  of  fools," 
and  said  "  faith  taketh  no  thought  for  the  morrow's 
bread,  and  deemeth  it  scepticism  to  lay  up  provisions 
for  the  future.  For  faith  liveth  in  resignation,  and 
hath  absolute  trust  in  Providence."  Thus  the  doc- 
trines of  asceticism  for  which  men  reviled  him  in 
1876,  were  laid  down  in  1866.  No  one  then  raised  a 
murmur  of  complaint,  everybody  admired  and  obeyed 
him.  Doctrines  when  stated  excite  no  hostility,  they 
stimulate  men's  imagination ;  when  acted  out  they  call 
forth  bitter  opposition,  because  then  by  the  contrast 
of  life  they  shock  men's  self-complacence.  This  little 
tract  on  True  Faith  was  written  "  as  a  guide  to  Brahmo 
missionaries,"  and  Miss  Collet,  afterwards  the  impla- 
cable enemy  of  Keshub's  new  ideals,   remarks  that  "  it 

24 


1 86  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

resembles  the  mediaeval  mystics  in  its  beatific  vision  of 
God,  and  in  the  sharp  contrast  drawn  between  the  life 
of  faith,  and  the  life  of  the  world — a  contrast  not 
always  drawn  quite  justly  to  the  latter."  How  very 
little  prepared  Miss  Collet  was  for  the  development  of 
this  mysticism,  and  for  the  practical  realization  of  "  the 
contrast  between  the  life  of  faith  and  the  life  of  the 
world  !"  But  Keshub's  singularity  was,  that  he  never 
laid  down  anything  in  doctrine  which  he  did  not  prac- 
tically attempt  to  carry  out  in  his  own  life,  and  that  of 
his  Church. 

The  perplexities  and  trials  consequent  on  the  separa- 
tion with  the  parent  Somaj  influenced  Keshub's  genius 
in  two  very  important  directions,  one  of  which  was  his 
relationship  to  Christ  and  Christianity.  His  lecture  on 
Jesus  Christ  was  sufficient  evidence  of  this.  But  the 
other  was  even  more  important.  It  was  the  unfolding 
of  Keshub's  devotional  character.  Allusion  has  been 
already  made  to  the  fact  that  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
entered  religious  life  with  an  insufficient  quantity  of 
religious  feeling.  Contrasted  with  the  mystic  fervour 
of  his  piety  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  this  fact 
becomes  not  only  noteworthy,  but  truly  singular.  He 
entered  life,  he  said  with  plenty  of  "faith  and  enthusi- 
asm, conscience  and  asceticism,"  but  he  had  not  much 
joy  or  love  in  God.  In  the  7th  chapter  of  Jeevan  Ved  he 
says,  "There  was  no  hope  in  me  (in  those  days)  of  the 
waters  of  peace  and  the  love  of  God.  I  did  not  know 
I  should  ever  have  a  look  of  the  Mother's  face.  The 
sands  were  flying   about  in  the  desert,  how  long  should 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  RELIGIOUS   EMOTIONS.  1 87 

it  be  thus  ?  I  felt  this  was  not  right.  Many  days  have 
I  spent  thus,  I  could  not  go  on  in  this  state  any  longer.* 
Then  there  was  a  change.  I  understood  that  a  man 
might  acquire  what  he  did  not  possess  before.  Now 
there  is  so  much  love  of  God  in  me  that  I  cannot  suffi- 
ciently express  it.  I  cannot  say  whether  now  there  is 
more  of  devotion,  or  of  conscience,  more  of  joy,  or  of  dis- 
cipline." It  might  be  safely  said  that  till  the  year  1867, 
till  he  had  fully  felt  the  desolateness  of  his  position, 
he  was  not  a  devotee  in  any  sense.  It  has  been  already 
pointed  out  how  this  deficiency  of  emotion  was  in  the 
early  years  of  his  ministry  a  cause  of  anxiety  to  Keshub 
himself,  and  a  cause  of  unpopularity  with  others.  His 
nature,  however,  took  a  sudden  and  strange  turn  about 
the  beginning  of  1 867.  The  separation  of  tender  ties  with 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  the  unpopularity  following  upon 
the  lecture  on  Jesus  Christ,  and  Great  Men,  the  absence 
of  worldly  resources,  and  even  of  a  place  of  worship,  the 
vascillations,and  serious  differences  among  his  own  com- 
panions, joined  perhaps  to  his  strong  vivid  sense  of  sin 
and  shortcoming,  created  quite  a  mental  crisis  for  Keshub. 
He  had  no  human  counsellor,  no  earthly  guide.  His 
sorrow  in  imperceptible  degrees  flowed  into  the  depths 
of  Divine  sympathy.  It  deepened  the  tones  of  his 
piety,  gave  a  reality  to  his  dependence,  a  pathos  to  his 
prayers,  a  tenderness  to  his  trust,  very  unusual  indeed  in 
his  case.  About  this  time  he  began  to  hold  daily  Divine 
services  in  his  house  with  a  view  to  find  spiritual  com- 
fort in  his  trials,  as  well  as  to  create  more  internal  sym- 

*  See  Faith  and  Progress  of  the  Brahmo  Somnj.  pp.  214,  215. 


1 88  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

pathy  among  himself  and  his  friends.  These  services 
by  a  speedy  and  unforeseen  process,  acquired  profound 
sweetness,  and  the  emotions  of  his  powerful  nature 
were  stirred  to  the  bottom.  With  Keshub  this  was 
a  new  experience,  with  us  all  it  was  a  new  delightful 
surprise.  He  had  an  abundance  of  moral  austerity, 
and  acute  intelligence,  no  one  could  excel  him  in 
fiery  enthusiasm.  But  hitherto  he  had  been  a  stranger 
to  this  extreme  tenderness  of  devotional  sentiment, 
and  when  it  came  in  the  course  of  time  and  circum- 
stances, he  hailed  this  ecstacy  of  a  new  life  with  all 
the  characteristic  ardor  of  his  nature.  One  thing,  in 
itself  a  singular  fact,  and  difficult  to  account  for,  added 
to  the  intensity  of  his  fervour.  The  spirit  of  the 
Vaishnava  religion  entered  into  Brahmo  devotions  at 
this  time.  Vaishnava  hymns,  commonly  called  Sankirtan, 
adapted  to  Vaishnava  tune  and  sentiment,  were  intro- 
duced, Vaishnava  instruments  of  music,  namely,  the 
kJwley  the  karataly  and  the  ektara  were  also  brought 
into  requisition.*  By  some  unexplained  impulse  in  his 
motives,  Keshub  selected  these  eccentric  mediums  of 
popular  religion.  Vaishnava  music  and  musical  instru- 
ments are  seldom  made  use  of  in  the  higher  circles  of 
Bengali  society.  The  lower  and  ruder  classes  of  the 
people,  mendicants,  wandering  devotees,  and  poor  unre- 
fined religionists  take  to  them.     Keshub,  to  our  positive 

*  The  khole  is  a  long  earthen  drum,  the  sound  of  which  is  adapted 
to  the  Vaishnava  order  of  hymns,  and  adds  to  music  wild  enthusiasm  ;  the 
karatal  is  a  pair  of  large  brazen  cymbals,  exceedingly  clamorous  ;  and  the 
ektara  is  a  harp  of  one  string,  which  accompanies  the  voice  with  its  monotone. 


VAISHNAVA  PIETY  IN  THE   BRAHMO   SOMAJ.         1 89 

knowledge,  used  to  hate  these  things  in  his  youth.  But 
now  some  force  within  compelled  him  to  have  recourse 
to  these  discarded  paraphernalia  of  Vaishnava  faith. 
This  new  kind  of  musical  celebration  began  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Brahma  Sankirtan.  A  new 
epoch  dawned  upon  the  Brahmo  Somaj  with  the  intro- 
duction of  this  Brahma  Sankirtan.  It  meant  the  opening 
up  of  a  new  world  of  religious  feeling,  it  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  new  spiritual  relationship  with  the 
most  popular  of  the  recent  prophets  of  India,  the 
apostle  of  Bhakti,  Chaitanya. 

Thus  Keshub  stood  at  the  threshold  of  his  indepen- 
dent career  with  the  shadow  of  Jesus  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  shadow  of  Chaitanya  on  the  other.  Every  day 
these  names  grew  in  importance  with  his  movement, 
but  even  so  early  as  that  they  foreboded  a  future  of  un- 
exampled experience  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  Now  the 
rapture  of  Vaishnava  piety  is  very  well  known  in  this 
country.  It  has  two  features,  furious  excitement,  and 
tender  sentimentalism.  The  hymns  that  are  sung  have 
the  utmost  vehemence  of  wild  enthusiasm,  swelling  with 
the  deep  noise  of  the  khole  joined  to  the  din  and  clash 
of  the  karatal.  The  hymns  sometimes  again  melt  in 
the  strains  of  pious  tenderness,  and  tremble  on  the 
delicate  notes  of  the  violin.  Trylokya  Nath  Sanyal, 
our  beloved  apostle  of  song,  joined  the  missionary 
body  in  1867.  His  musical  genius  became  a  source 
of  wonderful  attraction  to  the  public.  He  was  an 
invaluable  acquisition  by  the  side  of  Bejai  Krishna 
Gosvvami,   our  first  enlisted   Missionary,  the    lineal  de- 


I  go  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

scendant  of  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of  Vaishnavism. 
Bejai    Krishna,     next    to    Keshub,    played    the    most 
important  part   in  introducing  the  Vaishnava  element 
into  the   Brahmo  Somaj.     Brother  Trylokya  Nath  has 
been    noted,    over   and  above  his  other  powers,  for  the 
sweetness  of  his   voice,    and  his   remarkable  power  of 
ready    poetic  composition.     Almost  every  day  he    im- 
provised tunes,   and  composed   new   hymns  extempore 
to  suit  the  sermons  and  prayers  which  Keshub  delivered. 
He  and  Bijai  Krishna,  along   with  the    other   disciples, 
added  continued  fuel   to  the  fire  of  Keshub's   devotions. 
This    new  phase   of  devotional    life  culminated  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Brahma  Utsab,  or  Festival  in  God, 
in  November  1867.     Thus  within  only  a  year  of  his  se- 
paration with  the  Adi  Somaj,  Keshub  presents   the  de- 
velopment of  a  high  order  of  devotee,  and  corrects  for 
ever  the  devotional  deficiency  of  his  nature.   The  prayers, 
precepts,  and  hymns   of  the  Brahma  Utsab,  lasted  from 
early  morning  to  nine  o'clock  in  the  night,  and  Keshub 
as   Minister  sat  out  the  whole   of  this  service  without 
being   tired.      The   love   of  God    seized    and  pervaded 
him   in   those  days,  he  threw  himself  headlong  into  the 
rapturous    excitement  of  the   time.     The   whole   thing 
came  to  him  as  a  Divine  visitation,  as  a   strange   inspi- 
ration,   which    he   did    not,  and    could  not  resist.     He 
loudly  sang,  a   thing   which    his    natural    shyness    had 
never  permitted  him   to    do  before  ;  he  had  never  been 
seen  to  weep,  but  now  streams   of  tears   ran   down   his 
handsome  face.     He  was  turned  into  a  new  man. 

On  the  24th  January,  1868,  the  thirty- eighth  anniver- 


FOUNDATION-STONE  OF  THE  BRAHMA  MANDIR      igi 

sary  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
Brahma  Mandir,  Keshub's  temple  of  worship,  was  laid 
with  great  pomp.  The  greatest  of  all  difficulties,  after 
the  rupture  with  Devendra  Nath,  was  the  want  of  a 
place  of  worship.  Negociations  for  a  separate  service  in 
the  premises  of  the  old  Somaj  had  failed.  Keshub  and 
his  young  friends  prayed  where  they  could,  in  rented 
rooms,  in  school  houses,  in  Keshub's  bed-room.  When 
the  new  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  was  established  securely, 
and  every  hope  of  reconciliation  was  over,  he  bestirred 
himself  about  building  a  new  place  of  worship.  Keshub's 
principle  was  never  to  delay  when  he  had  made  a  good 
resolution,  never  to  wait  for  means  and  resources  when 
a  good  undertaking  had  to  be  taken  in  hand.  He  says 
in  the  Jeevan  Veda  "  I  at  first  raise  the  structure,  and 
then  think  of  laying  the  foundation."  In  every  good 
or  great  work  that  had  to  be  done,  he  drew  from  the 
treasury  of  his  faith,  and  that  was  inexhaustible.  So, 
as  soon  as  he  matured  the  plan  of  a  Mandir  or  place  of 
worship,  he  borrowed  money  on  his  personal  respon- 
sibility, and  bought  a  piece  of  land  in  Machuabazar 
Street,  and  as  soon  as  the  land  was  secured  he  laid 
the  foundation-stone.  The  foundation  of  the  Mandir 
was  the  foundation  of  his  future,  of  his  real,  life-long, 
world-wide  ministry.  And  it  was  celebrated  with 
adequate  solemnity.  During  the  devotional  develop- 
ment of  the  last  year  Keshub  had  elaborated  an 
exquisite  liturgy  of  theistic  devotions,  which  is  now 
the  order  of  public  worship  in  almost  all  Brahmo 
Somajes  in  the  country,  and  that  was  publicly  adopted 


1 92  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

on  the  occasion.  The  Nagar  Sankirtan,  or  procession 
for  street  singing,  now  adopted  by  all  the  Somajes, 
nay  even  by  the  Native  Christians,  was  first  intro- 
duced. It  was  joined  and  encouraged  by  hundreds 
of  the  educated,  in  fact  by  all  classes.  Great  flags 
inscribed  with  Theistic  mottos  were  carried  by  en- 
thusiastic men,  and  amidst  the  dense  devout  crowd, 
Keshub  and  his  friends  walked  bare-footed  and  bare- 
headed. These  processions,  now  so  familiar,  marked 
a  point  of  new  departure  which  gave  rise  to  not  a  little 
sensation  in  Calcutta.  They  originated  with  the 
Vaishnavas,  but  they  had  degenerated  into  mobbish 
assemblies,  and  it  required  great  moral  courage,  and 
deep  religious  impulse  to  be  able  to  borrow  and 
reform  them.  The  foundation-stone  of  the  Brahma 
Mandir  was  laid  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  evening 
Keshub  delivered  his  lecture  on  Regenerating  Faith. 
The  audience  was  very  large,  and  for  the  first  time 
the  highest  English  officials,  from  the  Viceroy  down- 
wards, attended,  some  of  whom  for  want  of  space  had  to 
stand  all  the  time.  Among  others  the  Rev.  Norman 
Macleod,  then  on  a  visit  to  Calcutta,  was  present,  and 
bore  a  testimony  to  Keshub's  eloquence  which  at  the 
time  was  so  largely  quoted.  Keshub  had  been  already 
invited  to  Government  House,  and  the  graciousness 
of  the  Viceroy  in  attending  the  anniversary  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  made  his  relations  to  the  latter  more 
intimate.  The  foundation  of  the  Brahma  Mandir,  added 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India, 
brought  double  strength  and  success  to  Keshub's  inde- 


THE  REVIVAL   AT  MONGHYR.  1 93 

pendent  career.  With  the  enthusiasm  of  this  newly- 
achieved  success,  in  March  1868  he  left  for  an  extensive 
missionary  tour  to  the  North  Western  Provinces  and 
Bombay,  where  four  years  before  his  visit  had  resulted  in 
awaking  the  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  educated  com- 
munity. After  stirring  lectures  on  social  and  religious 
subjects  he  returned  not  to  Calcutta,  but  to  Monghyr, 
where  on  his  way  to  Western  India,  he  had  left  his 
family  for  a  change  of  air.  A  great  religious 
revival  was  destined  to  take  place  here. 

Monghyr  is  an  ancient  and  beautiful  town  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges.  It  has  extensive  fields,  flourishing 
bazars,  beautiful  gardens,  picturesque  ghats,  and  hills, 
and  hotsprings  in  the  neighbourhood.  Since  the  East 
Indian  Railway  Company  had  removed  their  work- 
shops and  offices  to  Jamalpur,  about  six  miles  from 
Monghyr,  the  latter  place  has  come  to  hold  a 
large  colony  of  Bengali  clerks,  who  have  settled 
there  with  their  families.  These  clerks,  at  the  time 
we  speak  of,  were  generally  young  men,  more  or  less 
educated,  whose  free  religious  tendencies  favoured  the 
formation  of  a  new  faith.  They  flocked  around  Keshub 
during  his  sojourn  at  Monghyr,  listened  to  his  prayers 
and  sermons  with  enthusiasm,  and  felt  themselves  pro- 
foundly influenced.  The  ordinary  services,  and  occa- 
sional Brahma  Utsabs,  in  the  form  of  festivals,  took 
place  in  the  little  bungalow  which  Keshub  had 
rented  in  the  Fort.  They  were  most  numerously 
attended,  and  the  emotions  awakened  on  such  oc- 
casions   were  uncontrolled.      In    fact    the    devotional 

25 


194  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

excitement,    through    which   Keshub    and    his    friends 
had   passed    during   the    last  eighteen    months,    broke 
out  with  increased  violence  at  Monghyr,  and  a  great 
religious  revival  seemed  to  be  at  hand.     The  whole  con- 
gregation, which  multiplied    every   week,   would    often 
be  moved  to  tears,  and  sobs,  and  ejaculations  that  were 
well  nigh  hysterical.     The  women  vied  with  the  men  in 
expressing  their  devotedness  and  enthusiasm,   even  the 
ignorant    people  from    the  bazar   were   sometimes   at- 
tracted.    Processions  perambulated  through  the   streets 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  and  night,  sang  at  the  ghats   on 
the   riverside,   and   sometimes   kept    watches  and  vigils 
on  the  hills   in   the   neighbourhood.     The  whole   town 
was  in  ferment.     Some  danced,  one  or  two  fell  into  fits  of 
unconsciousness,    not   a   few    saw   visions.     Some    left 
worldly    avocations,    and  joined   Keshub's    missionary 
body.     The  Brahmo  Somaj  was  known   to   the   people 
hitherto  as  a  philosophical  sect,  given  to  self-indulgent 
practices,    who   hated    every  form   of  popular  religion. 
And    they   now   wondered    much    to    behold    that    the 
same  Brahmo   Somaj   had  fructified    into    the   utmost 
enthusiasm   of  popular   devotion  and  faith  according  to 
every  approved  notion  of  current  Hinduism,  only  leaving 
out  its  idolatry.     It  was  a  new  spectacle,  a  new  experi- 
ment.    As   for   our   friends    in    Calcutta,    they    heard 
that  the  great  awakening  had  taken  place  in  Monghyr, 
and  marvellous   things  were  soon  to  be  expected.     Re- 
ports  spread  fast   that   the   newly  awakened    brethren 
had  not  only  distinguished  themselves  by  their  love  to 
God,  but  that  their  love  and    faith  towards   each  other 


THE   REVIVAL  AT   MONGHYR  1 95 

were  also  most  unusual.  They  served  and  honoured 
all  devotees  of  God,  embraced  and  fell  at  each  others'* 
feet,  begged  mutual  forgiveness  with  tears  in  their  eyes, 
and  vowed  the  warmest  and  most  endless  attachment.  In 
short  such  an  upheaval  had  never  taken  place  in  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  before.  But  these  feelings  of  honour 
and  attachment,  felt  towards  each  other,  were  intensi- 
fied to  the  utmost  pitch  in  relation  to  Keshub.  They 
professed  uncommon  reverence  for  him.  They  pros- 
trated and  abased  themselves  before  him  most  utterly  ; 
they  began  to  talk  of  him  in  extravagant  phraseology 
such  as  "  lord/'  "  master,"  and  "  saviour,"  so  that  all 
this  soon  provoked  comment.  It  was  just  like  the 
time  of  the  advent  of  one  of  the  great  ancient  prophets 
like  Sakya  Muni,  or  Chaitanya,  and  Keshub  was  open- 
ly alluded  to  as  such.  Some  professed  to  have  seen 
supernatural  sights  concerning  him  ;  some  connected 
him  with  Jesus,  as  the  elder  and  younger  sons  of  the 
Father  ;  others  composed  and  sang  hymns  about  him 
in  the  following  style  : — 

"Awake,  O  inmates  of  the  neighbourhood,  awake, 
"  There  has  come  in  your  midst  a  Yogi,  a  lover  of 
"  Brahm,  full  of  tenderness  ; 
"His  throat  always  glorifies  the  name  of  Hari, 
"  And  his  heart  is  the  abode  of  the  perfect  God." 

These  manifestations  of  popular  faith  and  reverence 
Keshub  accepted  as  a  passing  phase  of  religious  feel- 
ing. He  never  felt  he  was  being  worshipped,  or 
that  his  admirers  ran  any  risk  of  idolizing  him.  Of 
all  the  praises  he  got  he  gave  the  glory  to  God,  and  for 


IQ6  life  of  keshub  chuxder  sen. 

his  own  part  he  took  to  heart  the  deep  encouragement 
it  conveyed.  He  felt  his  opportunity  had  arrived, 
that  he  had  received  the  recognition  he  wanted,  that 
his  mission  was  revealed  to  him,  that  the  grace  of  God 
had  inspired  in  others  the  response  which  he  had  long 
waited  for.  Keshub,  as  we  shall  have  to  point  out 
now  and  again,  was  never  wanting  in  a  supreme 
consciousness  of  his  destiny,  or  of  his  great  powers, 
or  of  his  unique  place  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  He  was 
very  deeply  convinced,  though  he  seldom  said  so  in 
those  days,  that  men,  not  all  men,  but  the  Theists  of 
the  Brahmo  Somaj,  were  bound  to  recognize  this  place, 
and  give  him,  as  their  leader,  great,  nay  unquestioning 
honour.  In  his  private  and  personal  capacity,  however, 
he  was  embarrassed  and  ashamed  at  such  honor.  He 
did  not  want  it,  but  when  it  came  he  saw  in  it  the  hand 
of  God.  It  was  to  him  valuable  testimony  that  the  spirit 
of  God  was  with  him,  that  his  work  was  true,  and 
his  time  had  come.  He  did  not  want  to  repel  the 
men  who  approached  him  with  their  homage  of 
admiration,  lest  he  might  do  harm  to  any  part  of  their 
better  nature,  but  he  gave  frequent  hints  that  what  they 
were  doing  was  liable  to  misrepresentation.  That  there 
was  good  ground  for  such  fear  became  soon  apparent. 
Up  to  this  time  the  popular  trait  of  oriental  religions, 
namely,  excessive  reverence  for  holy  men,  never  showed 
itself  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  In  Monghyr,  side  by  side 
with  uncommon  devotional  excitement,  this  feeling  of 
"  hero-worship  "  broke  out  in  great  exuberance.  Such 
sudden   development  of  personal   reverence  alarmed  a 


THE   CHARGE   OF   MAN-WORSHIP.  1 97 

number  of  Brahmo  spectators,  and  among  them,  two 
well-known  Brahmo  missionaries  who,  hitherto,  had 
been  warmly  attached  to  Keshub.  One  of  these 
was  Pandit  Bijai  Krishna  Goswami.  They  wrote  to 
some  of  the  newspapers,  formally  brought  the  charge 
of  worshipping  Keshub  against  his  admiring  disciples, 
and  they  unreservedly  accused  Keshub  himself  of 
conniving  at,  if  not  directly  encouraging  it.  They  said 
they  had  made  many  private  remonstrances  against 
these  things,  but  without  effect,  nay,  their  protests  had 
only  provoked  a  greater  persistency  in  the  practices 
they  found  it  their  duty  to  condemn.  They  stirred  up  a 
considerable  amount  of  public  agitation,  and  succeeded 
in  producing  much  ill-feeling  against  Keshub  and  his 
friends.  Now,  as  this  charge  was  never  wholly  aban- 
doned, though  often  contradicted,  and  has  appeared  in 
one  form  or  another  in  various  subsequent  stages,  it 
is  necessary  to  examine  how  much,  if  any,  truth  there 
may  be  in  it.  Nothing  better  could  be  done  in  this  respect 
than  to  translate  portions  of  a  letter  which  Keshub 
wrote  about  the  time  to  a  friend  who  had  made  a  candid 
inquiry  to  know  his  views  on  the  subject.  "  Those 
to  whom  I  have  opened  my  whole  mind  and  heart  have 
tried  to  make  me  guilty  before  the  public  of  the  most 
frightful  and  soul-rending  charges.  I  have  been  charged 
with  trying  to  destroy  loving  prayerfulness  unto  God, 
the  only  Saviour,  a  principle  which  has  been  the  object 
and  faith  of  all  my  life.  Very  near  friends  now  charge 
me  as  proud  and  hypocritical,  the  robber  of  God's 
supremacy,  the  propagator  of  my  own  worship,     I  have 


198  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

no  wish  to  defend  my  character.  It  is  enough  I  am 
guiltless  before  God.  .  .  .  God  is  the  only  Saviour  of 
sinners.  Both  man  and  the  external  world  can  be 
helps  in  the  attainment  of  salvation.  The  highest 
honour  to  man  only  as  man,  can  never  be  harmful.  But 
to  offer  reverence  to  a  teacher  or  a  good  man  as  equal 
to  God,  or  as  the  only  infallible  incarnation  of  God  is 
against  Brahma  Dharma.  I  have  never  fallen  into  the 
error  of  supposing  that  if  I  pray  to  God  as  a  mediator 
for  others,  He  will  forgive  or  save  them  through  my 
intercessions,  or  my  virtues.  ...  I  have  never  ap- 
proved of  the  manner  in  which  some  of  my  friends 
honour  vie*  Because  in  the  first  place  I  am  not  worthy 
of  such  honours.  I  always  feel  that  my  life  is  not  as 
good  as  men  give  me  credit  for.  There  is  no  glory  due 
to  me  on  account  of  the  benefits  which  some  friends  have 
received  from  my  service,  God  is  the  only  source  of  such 
benefits  :  .  .  I  must  admit  that  amongst  my  Brahmo 
friends  there  are  a  good  many  whose  love  to  God  and 
holiness  of  character  are  greater  than  my  own,  and  are 
the  special  means  of  my  salvation.  In  the  second 
place  external  honours  arey  in  my  judgment,  unnecessary 
and  improper.  Real  love  and  honour  lie  in  the  heart,  and 
if  their  outward  expressions  decrease,  there  is  not  much 
harm.  While  on  the  other  hand  too  much  expression  may 
do  mischief  to  others;  I  have  repeatedly  expressed  my 
hesitation  to  receive  such  honours.     But  I  have  no  right  to 

*  We  have  italicized  these  important  passages,  because  they  apply  to 
numerous  subsequent  occasions  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  Life,  when  similai 
modes  of  honouring  him  were  adopted. 


keshub's  defence.  199 

interfere  with  the  freedom  of  others.  It  has  ever  been 
against  my  taste  and  conviction  to  bring  men  to  do 
what  I  like  by  command  or  entreaty." 

From  this,  and  from  other  quotations  which  could  be 
made  at  great  length  from  published  lectures  and 
prayers,  it  will  be  evident  that  whatever  Keshub's  self- 
estimate  might  be,  he  was  free  from  the  sin  of  arroga- 
ting Divine  honours.  We  cannot,  however,  as  readily 
say  that  some  of  his  more  enthusiastic  disciples  did 
not,  in  repeated  instances,  want  to  impute  to  him  claims 
which  he  never  himself  meant  to  make.  In  consequence 
of  such  unwisdom  he  and  his  cause  have  had  to  suffer 
grievously  in  public  estimation.  When  by  utterances, 
similar  to  those  quoted  above,  he  disabused  them,  the 
more  credulous,  and  weaker-minded  among  them  could 
not  bear  the  shock  of  knowing  the  plain  truth,  and 
incontinently  left  the  Somaj.  This  actually  happened 
at  Monghyr.  Two  men,  one  of  them  a  Brahmo  mis- 
sionary of  long  standing,  left  Keshub's  flock  when  they 
found  their  estimate  of  him  was  contradicted  by  himself, 
and  they  joined  a  mystical  sect  of  orthodox  Vaishnavas. 
When  therefore  Keshub  was  urged  to  put  down  authori- 
tatively any  extravagance  of  personal  attitude  towards 
him,  he  argued,  as  he  did  at  Monghyr,  that  he  had  no 
right  to  interfere  with  other  men's  liberty,  that  if  he 
found  error  or  extravagance  in  any  one,  he  never  felt 
justified  to  reject  him  on  that  account,  but  to  keep  him 
near,  and  gradually  wean  him  from  his  errors,  that 
"  he  would  be  guilty  of  grave  sin  if  he  cruelly  turned 
out  any  brother  for  such  faults." 


200  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

But  if  it  be  true  that  the  divine  and  prophetic  preten- 
sions ascribed  to  him  were  unfounded,  it  is  also  true 
that  the  revival  at  Monghyr  left  deep  and  abiding 
impressions  on  Keshub's  character.  It  pointed  out  to 
him  the  direction  in  which  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  could  be  made  popular  in  the  land.  Hence 
every  subsequent  revival  that  Keshub  brought  about, 
resembled  this  in  essential  features.  It  developed  the 
personal  affinities  between  himself  and  some  of  his 
followers,  creating  thus  the  basis  of  all  his  apostolical 
organizations  in  future.  It  created  for  the  first  time 
that  mysticism  and  semi-supernaturalism  of  faith  in 
an  active  special  Providence,  the  under-current  which 
always  continued  to  run  in  Keshub's  movements  hence- 
forth. The  abnormal  excitement  of  emotions,  first 
begun  at  Monghyr,  undoubtedly  emasculated  a  good 
many  unripe  minds  in  Keshub's  Church.  No  doubt  a 
tendency  to  exaggerated  notions  about  Keshub's  place 
and  functions  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  became  chronic  in 
the  constitution  of  some  of  his  nearest  and  dearest 
friends.  In  fact  henceforth  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  there 
were  two  strong  parallel  parties  always  present,  one  of 
whom  honoured  Keshub  almost  to  the  point  of  worship  ; 
and  the  other  consistently  undervalued  him,  suspected 
his  principles,  and  denied  him  his  true  position.  Of 
these  two  parties  Keshub  unreservedly  preferred  and 
trusted  the  former.  The  latter  he  was  strongly  inclined 
to  accuse  of  rationalism  and  infidelity.  One  principal 
reason  of  this  was  that  he  felt  the  one-sided  intellectual 
education,  and  consequent  scepticism,  which  the  rising 


BEGINNINGS   OF  THE   BRAHMO   MARRIAGE   ACT.     201 

generation  had  so  deeply  imbibed,  that  the  materializ- 
ing and  irreverent  tendencies  a  foreign  civilization 
every  day  spread  could  be  counteracted  only  by  violent 
upheavals  of  the  devotional  sentiment  both  towards  God 
and  man,  wherein  the  consciousness  of  the  nation 
abounded,  and  that  these  violent  feelings  and  personal 
affinities  alone  could  give  him  the  groundwork  whereon 
he  could  construct  a  new  religious  organization,  and  a 
new  order  of  spirituality. 

With  a  band  of  devoted  followers,  friends,  and  co- 
workers, Keshub  Chunder  Sen  left  Monghyr  in  August 
1868  to  spend  a  few  months  at  Simla  on  the  Himalayas, 
whither  Lord  Lawrence,  the  Viceroy,  whose  acquaintance 
he  had  made  in  the  previous  year,  had  invited  him. 
They  had  met  by  appointment  at  Bankipur.  This  con- 
ference at  Bankipur  had  given  rise  to  the  discussion  of 
a  subject  which  was  to  mark  a  most  important  turning 
point  in  Keshub' s  character  as  a  reformer.  It  was 
the  enactment  of  a  Brahmo  marriage  law.  Since  the 
celebration  of  that  first  Brahmo  marriage  in  1861,  the 
leaders  had  a  secret  doubt  whether  such  marriages  had 
the  sanction  of  the  prevailing  laws  of  the  land.  The 
opinion  of  the  Advocate  General  of  Bengal  had  been 
taken,  and  he  had  distinctly  pronounced  against  their 
legality.  Thereupon  general  meetings  of  the  B.  S. 
of  India  were  held,  and  resolutions  were  passed  to  memo- 
rialize the  Government  to  sanction  Brahmo  marriages. 
The  unpleasant  incidents  of  the  secession,  however,  had 
thrown  the  subject  into  the  background.  But  as  soon 
as  Keshub,  now  the  sole  leader  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
26 


202  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CIIUXDER   SEN. 

of  India,  and  its  Secretary,  found  time  to  reflect  on  the 
matter,  he  felt  the  necessity  of  immediate  action.  And 
now  unforeseen  facilities  presented  themselves  in  his 
way.  The  warm  and  practical  interest  which  the  noble- 
minded  statesman  who  then  presided  over  the  Govern- 
ment of  India  manifested  both  in  Keshub  personally,  and 
in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  movement  in  general,  emboldened 
him  to  open  the  subject  to  the  Viceroy  who  readily 
responded,  and  invited  him  to  Simla,  the  summer  resi- 
dence of  the  Government,  where  greater  opportunities  for 
discussing  the  subject,  and  if  possible  of  taking  an 
initiative,  would  occur.  So  Keshub  left  for  the  hills 
with  his  family  and  friends,  and  Lord  Lawrence  not 
only  accommodated  him  in  the  extensive  range  of  build- 
ings at  Boileaugunge,  generally  set  apart  for  distin- 
guished Native  guests,  but  sent  him  a  private  present  of 
500  Rs.  to  defray  his  necessary  expenses.  Mrs.  Sen 
and  the  children  were  not  very  happy  in  the  cold 
climate  of  Simla,  but  the  grand  scenery,  and  bracing 
air,  after  his  recent  profound  spiritual  experiences  at 
Monghyr,  brought  healing  joy  to  Keshub's  soul.  It 
was  the  first  time  he  saw  the  Himalayas,  and  his  heart 
went  back  to  the  glorious  times  when  those  mountains 
were  the  abode  of  the  holiest  and  wisest  of  India's 
sons.  Their  spirituality  came  down  in  torrents,  like 
the  sacred  rivers,  to  the  plains  below,  and  fertilized 
and  enriched  the  nation's  mind.  Keshub,  as  often  as 
he  visited  the  Himalayas,  realized  he  was  the  descend- 
ant and  successor  of  that  holy  race  of  saints.  He  felt 
this   so   intensely   the   first  time  he  was  there,  that  he 


"A  VOICE   FROM   THE   HIMALAYAS.  203 

took  great  pains  to  write  an  exhortation  under  the 
title  of  "  A  Voice  from  the  Himalayas."  It  produced 
a  singular  impression.*  But  his  time  was  chiefly  taken 
up  in  interviews  with  the  Government  officials  to  give 
them  his  views  on  the  contemplated  Marriage  Bill 
which  was  introduced  to  the  Governor-General's  Council 
on  the  10th  September  1868.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
year,  Keshub  returned  to  Calcutta  very  much  refreshed 
in  health  and  spirits,  and  exultant  over  the  prospects 
of  a  law  that  would  give  the  sanction  of  Government  to 
all  his  most  important  social  reforms. 

*  It  began  thus  : — 

"  Sons  and  Daughters  of  India,  dearly  beloved  brethren, — Awake,  arise, 
the  blessed  morning  of  your  redemption  is  come.  The  Great  God,  our 
Merciful  Father,  standeth  at  your  doors  with  the  treasures  of  redeeming 
grace  in  His  hand,  and  summoneth  you  to  rise.  Delay  not  then,  but  obey  the 
holy  call  instantly.  Rise  from  your  death-like  sleep  ;  let  your  ears  hear  the 
joyful  sound  of  salvation  ;  let  your  eyes  drink  the  sweet  light  of  the  new  day  ; 
let  your  lips  praise  the  Redeemer's  name ;  let  your  hands  serve  His  holy 
feet.  Long,  too  long,  have  you  slept  on  the  bed  of  idolatry  and  corruption ; 
long  have  you  borne  the  oppressions  and  cruelties  of  a  heartless  hierarchy, 
with  hands  and  feet  enchained  in  the  gloomy  prison-cell  of  superstition. 
Long  have  you  suffered  from  acute  moral  diseases  and  spiritual  poverty. 
The  cup  of  your  sufferings  is  brimful.  Your  condition  is  truly  pitiable.  It 
draws  tears  from  human  eyes.  And  shall  Infinite  Mercy  look  on  with  indif- 
ference and  apathy  ?  No,  it  cannot  be.  Your  waitings  and  lamentations 
have  penetrated  the  vaults  of  heaven  and  reached  the  Father's  ears,  and  He 
hath  hastened  to  relieve  and  rescue  those  that  have  cried  unto  him.  Beloved, 
India  thy  night  of  darkness  and  sorrow  is  over.  Sing  the  Father's  mercy, 
all  ye  men  and  women  of  India.  Sing,  mountains  and  hills,  rivers,  streams, 
forests  and  plains,  cities  and  villages.  Ye  winds  of  heaven,  cany  the  message 
of  His  redeeming  mercy  in  all  directions.  May  He  bless  my  humble  Voice, 
and  stir  up  a  response  in  every  heart  !  Blessed  be  the  Holy  and  Merciful 
God  for  ever ! 


204  L*FE   0F   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN. 

The  Brahma  Mandir,  the  new  temple  of  God,  was 
building  very  fast  in  the  meantime,  Keshub  himself 
and  his  brother  missionaries  were  incessantly  active 
in  securing  contributions,  and  enlisting  public  sym- 
pathy. Most  zealous  of  all  these  zealous  workers  was 
the  Rev.  Bhai  Amrita  Lai  Bose,  who  personally  super- 
intended the  construction,  and  spared  neither  time  nor 
trouble  to  complete  the  works.  Keshub  held  the  anni- 
versary service  in  the  unfinished  temple,  and  fully  resolved 
to  open  the  sanctuary  for  public  worship  in  the  course 
of  1869.  In  anticipation  of  that  event  he  gave  his 
anniversary  lecture  in  January  on  the  Future  Church, 
indicating  the  principles  on  which  the  new  temple  was 
to  carry  on  its  operations.  The  Church  of  the  Future, 
he  said  in  substance,  must  proceed  on  the  teachings  of 
history.  "  It  is  only  from  an  induction  of  facts  that  we 
can  divine  what  is  to  happen  in  future."  Though  the 
records  of  religion  show  the  prevalence  of  matter-wor- 
ship at  one  time,  and  man-worship  at  another,  though 
the  principle  of  authority  has  preponderated  at  one  time, 
and  the  principle  of  freedom  at  another,  yet  "  history 
also  shows  that  no  religious  system  recorded  therein 
is  wholly  false."  It  also  shows  that  "  the  doctrines  and 
institutions  of  different  sects  have  been  found  in  some 
cases  to  resemble  each  other  in  their  essential  features." 
The  inference  from  all  this  is  that  the  Future  Church 
must  take  what  is  truth  from  every  prevailing  system 
of  Religion.  The  worship  of  the  Church  of  the  Future 
will  be  through  the  beauties  and  sublimities  of  nature. 
"  The  material  universe   is    a   great    religious    teacher, 


LECTURE   ON  THE   FUTURE   CHURCH.  205 

and  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful  in  nature  exercise  a 
vast  moral  influence  on  the  mind."  True  worship  is  also 
through  the  qualities  of  the  human  mind.  "  The  world 
within  manifests  the  Great  Creator's  power,  wisdom, 
and  mercy.  The  soul  is  God's  work  as  much  as  the 
outer  world,  nay  a  far  nobler  work  it  is,  as  revealing 
the  higher  attributes  of  the  Divinity,  and  our  relations 
to  Him."  "  Besides  the  general  respect  due  to  every 
mind,  peculiar  respect  is  due  to  superior  minds.  .  .  Far 
greater  honour  has  been  accorded  to  God's  more  devoted 
servants — good  men,  reformers,  prophets — than  to  dead 
matter,  and  ordinary  humanity.  .  .  .  How  will  these 
three  be  respected,  and  yet  the  unity  of  God  strictly 
and  uncompromisingly  maintained  ?"  For  he  is  careful 
to  observe  that  (t  so  far  has  this  homage  to  moral  good- 
ness and  greatness  been  abused  as  to  sink  into  man- 
worship.  Thus  many  a  prophet  has  been  deified,  and 
instead  of  being  honoured  as  a  teacher,  has  been  wor- 
shipped as  God  in  human  form."  The  creed  of  the 
Future  Church  he  briefly  states  will  be  "  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  Brotherhood  of  Man,"  and  its  gospel  will 
be  "  the  gospel  of  mercy  as  represented  in  the  parable 
of  the  Prodigal  Son — unsurpassed  in  the  literature  of 
Divine  grace."  And  he  concludes  by  observing  that 
"  the  Future  Church  of  India  must  be  thoroughly  an 
Indian  Church.  The  future  religion  of  the  world  will 
be  the  common  religion  of  all  nations,  but  in  each 
nation  it  will  have  an  indigenous  growth,  and  assume 
a  peculiar  and  distinctive  character."  It  will  be  easy 
to   perceive  how   in   this   preliminary  statement   there 


2o6  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    THUNDER    SEX. 

remained  all  the  germs  of  Keshub5  s  characteristic 
development  of  faith,  worship,  and  doctrine  that  was 
to  take  place  in  no  remote  future. 

The   Brahma   Mandir   was   formally   opened  on    the 
22nd    August,     1869.     Its    history    is    the    history    of 
the    spiritual    progress    of    Keshub    himself,    and     of 
the    faithful    band    of    men    who    followed    him    thus 
far.     The    ceremonies    and    services     were    most    im- 
posing, and  an    enthusiastic    congregation  of  old    and 
young,    of   men     and    women     gathered     from     early 
morning,  and  remained  till   late  at  night.     Keshub  de- 
scribed the    objects    and    principles   of  the    institution 
thus  : — "  This    building  is  established   with   the   object 
of  paying    reverence   to   all  truths    that    exist   in  the 
world.     This  temple  is   founded   with  the    object   that 
all   quarrel,  all    misunderstanding,    all    pride    of   caste 
may   be  destroyed,  and  all   brotherly  feeling   may   be 
perpetuated.      Those    Acharyas    (ministers)    who    will 
give   their   precepts    from    the  pulpit  of    this    Mandir, 
should  be  looked  upon  by  all  as  sinful  men.     They  give 
precepts  because  being  able  to   do    so,   they  have  been 
charged   with   that  duty.     The  names  and  the  language 
that  are  applied  to  God  shall  never  be   applied  to  any 
human  being  in  this  temple."  .  .  .     Keshub  in  making 
these  definite  statements  about  the  Acharyas  or  minis- 
ters must  have  foreseen   some  of    the  difficulties   that 
were  likely   to  arise    in  his  own  case.     The  declaration 
of  principles   that  he   read  lies   buried   underneath   the 
pulpit.     This  pulpit  has  been  the  subject  of  endless  con- 
troversy   as   to   whether   it  should  be  kept  vacant  or  not 


OPENING   OF   THE   BRAHMA   MANDIR.  207 

to  symbolize  his  relationship  with  the  congregation, 
This  controversy  nothing  can  settle  except  a  faithful 
interpretation  of  the  principles  declared  by  Keshub 
himself.  The  declaration,  mainly  borrowed  from  the 
principles  laid  down  by  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy  in 
the  establishment  of  the  original  Brahmo  Somaj  at 
Jorasanko,  we  give  below  : — 

"  To-day,  by  Divine  grace,  the  public  worship  of 
God  is  instituted  in  these  premises  for  the  use  of  the 
Brahmo  community.  Every  day,  at  least  every  week, 
the  One  only  God  without  a  second,  the  Perfect  and 
Infinite,  the  Creator  of  all,  Omnipresent,  Almighty, 
All-knowing,  All-merciful,  and  All-holy,  shall  be  wor- 
shipped in  these  pemises.  No  created  object  shall  be 
worshipped  here.  No  man,  or  inferior  being,  or  material 
object  shall  be  worshipped  here,  as  identical  with  God, 
or  like  unto  God,  or  as  an  incarnation  of  God  ;  and  no 
prayer  or  hymn  shall  be  offered  or  chanted  unto,  or  in 
the  name  of  any  except  God.  No  carved  or  painted 
image,  110  external  symbol  which  has  bee?i  or  may  hereafter 
be  used  by  any  sect  for  the  purpose  of  worship,  or  the 
remembrance  of  a  particular  event,  shall  be  preserved  here* 
No  creature  shall  be  sacrificed  here.  Neither  eating, 
nor  drinking,  nor  any  manner  of  mirth  or  amusement 
shall  be  allowed  here.  No  created  being  or  object  that 
has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  worshipped  by  any  sect 
shall  be  ridiculed  or   contemned   in   the   course   of  the 

*  We  have  italicized  this  passage  to  point  out  its  bearing  upon  the  late 
unhappy  controversies. 


208  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

Divine  service  to  be  conducted  here.  No  book  shall  be 
acknowledged  or  revered  as  the  infallible  word  of  God  ; 
yet  no  book  which  has  been,  or  may  hereafter  be  ac- 
knowledged by  any  sect  to  be  infallible,  shall  be  ridiculed, 
or  contemned.  No  sect  shall  be  vilified,  ridiculed,  or 
hated.  No  prayer,  hymn,  sermon,  or  discourse  to  be 
delivered  or  used  here,  shall  countenance  or  encourage 
any  manner  of  idolatry,  sectarianism,  or  sin.  Divine 
service  shall  be  conducted  here  in  such  spirit  and 
manner  as  may  enable  all  men  and  women,  irrespective 
of  distinctions  of  caste,  colour,  and  condition,  to  unite 
in  one  family,  eschew  all  manner  of  error  and  sin,  and 
advance  in  wisdom,  faith,  and  righteousness.  The 
congregation  of  the  "  Brahma  Mandir  of  India  '  shall 
worship  God  in  these  premises  according  to  the  rules 
and  principles  hereinbefore  set  forth. 

"  Peace  !  Peace  !  Peace  ! 

"  Keshub  Chunder  Sen." 
The  successful  establishment  and  opening  of  the 
Brahma  Mandir,  when  a  large  number  of  the  most 
prominent  men  who  now  constitute  the  Brahmo  com- 
munity, men  like  Anand  Mohan  Bose,  Krishna  Behari 
Sen,  Shiva  Nath  Shastri  accepted  the  Theistic  covenant, 
marked  the  first  period  of  Keshub's  independent  minis- 
try and  leadership.  The  fame  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
overspread  the  whole  world,  and  drew  special  attention 
in  England.  Keshub  now  felt  that  he  must  carry  his 
message  to  other  lands  and  nations. 


209 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  England,  1870. 

SUDDENLY  towards  the  end  of  1869  when  all  the  ac- 
tivities of  his  infant  organization  were  centred 
in  maturing  the  work  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India, 
and  the  Brahma  Mandir,  Keshub  made  an  announce- 
ment in  the  Indian  Altrror,  his  organ,  that  he  was  to 
visit  England  within  a  short  time.  As  such  an  idea 
had  never  entered  into  any  one's  remotest  calculation, 
and  Keshub  was  the  mainspring  of  every  work  and 
attempt,  the  announcement  caused  a  considerable  shock 
of  surprise  and  pain.  Never  unfolding  his  plans  till 
they  were  on  the  point  of  execution,  or  after  the  exe- 
cution had  begun,  Keshub's  undertakings  were  always 
sensational.  As  with  growing  years  and  responsi- 
bilities the  plans  gained  in  magnitude  and  import- 
ance, their  sensational  character  grew  in  proportion. 
There  is  no  doubt  he  secretly  fostered  the  wish,  and 
sought  for  the  opportunity  of  visiting  Europe.  But  he 
never  opened  his  mind  to  anybody  on  the  subject.  He 
half-doubted  whether  such  a  great  enterprise  could  be 
accomplished.  He  feared  dissuasions  and  obstacles 
would  be  thrown  in  his  way  if  people  knew  of  it  prema- 
turely. He  wanted  to  put  all  doubt  and  dissuasion 
27 


2  10  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

at  an  end.  And  hence  the  sudden,  and  what  seemed 
to  us,  the  cruel  announcement.  This  was  Keshub's 
manner  of  doing  things  always.  It  has  been  al- 
ready claimed  for  Keshub  that  he  was  the  founder 
of  that  itinerant  missionary  activity  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  which  has  developed  such  remarkable  results. 
Beginning  from  i860,  every  year  he  undertook  some  mis- 
sionary tour,  generally  towards  the  autumn.  These  mis- 
sionary itinerations  were  fruitful  in  multiplyingprovincial 
Brahmo  Somajes,  and  creating  a  theistic  centre  almost 
in  every  important  town  of  India.  His  reputation  as 
a  preacher,  as  in  fact  the  missionary  in  chief  of 
the  Brahmo  Somaj,  had  penetrated  into  every  part  of 
the  country.  Through  newspaper  reports  it  had  reached 
England,  and  from  England  spread  into  other  coun- 
tries. As  early  as  1861  a  correspondence  with  eminent 
English  Theists  had  begun.  Friends  occasionally  in- 
vited him  to  Europe.  The  profound  sensation  caused 
by  the  presence  of  Rajah  Ram  Mohun  Roy  in  England 
and  France  in  the  year  1831,  he  fully  remembered,  and 
warmly  dwelt  upon  many  times.  Often  in  his  mind 
he  formed  plans  of  proceeding  on  a  missionary  tour 
to  the  Western  world.  But  the  enterprise  had  always 
the  idea  of  danger  in  his  mind,  and  meditating  on  the 
fate  of  Ram  Mohun  Roy  and  Dwarka  Nath  Tagore 
he  must  have  suffered  many  a  recoil.  Keshub,  however, 
was  not  constituted  to  give  up  any  great  enterprise  for 
the  glory  of  God  through  the  hesitancy  of  fear.  So  he 
matured  his  determination,  and  made  the  announce- 
ment.    He   gave  a  preliminary  lecture   on  "England 


DEPARTURE   FROM   CALCUTTA.  211 

and  India"  in  the  Town  Hall  a  few  weeks  before  his 
departure,  in  which  he  modestly  explained  the  object 
of  his  contemplated  travels  as  that  of  a  learner.  The 
audience,  and  friends  outside,  made  up  a  sum  of  money 
for  his  travelling  expenses.  But  he  had  to  draw  from 
his  own  funds  to  meet  all  the  necessities  of  such  an 
expensive  journey.  The  excellent  Lord  Mayo,  then  the 
Governor-General  of  India,  to  whom  Lord  Lawrence, 
Keshub's  patron,  had  introduced  him,  and  other 
magnates  of  the  Government  gave  him  hearty  letters 
of  introduction  ;  and  Lord  Lawrence  who  had  retired 
a  little  while  ago,  and  sent  him  many  a  cordial  message, 
was  now  in  England  to  give  him  a  fitting  welcome. 
Sir  John  Bowring  asked  him  to  be  his  guest,  the 
British  and  Foreign  Unitarian  Association  invited  him 
to  accept  their  hospitality.  All  this  was  real  encourage- 
ment, and  gracious  opportunity,  but  the  deepest  im- 
pulse for  the  hazardous  undertaking  came  from  his  own 
brave  heart.  It  was  another  instance  of  the  mysterious 
Guidance  which  always  surrounded  him,  and  suggested 
to  him  his  true  course.  So  in  sturdy,  unwavering  faith 
about  his  prospects  in  the  distant  land,  Keshub  left 
Calcutta  for  Europe  in  the  P.  and  O.  Co.'s  Steam 
Ship  Multan  on  the  15th  Feb.  1870.  A  large  company 
of  young  Hindus,  almost  all  of  them  intimately  attach- 
ed to  him,  left  in  the  same  ship,  for  purposes  of 
education  in  England,  and  amongst  them  all  was 
Prasanna  Kumar  Sen,  Keshub's  devoted  disciple, 
friend,  and  servitor,  who  left  all  his  worldly  prosperity  to 
follow   him   ever   afterwards.     We   mustered   in    large 


212  LIFE   OF    KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

numbers  at  the  P.  and  O.  docks  at  Garden  Reach,  but  our 
hearts  were  not  exultant.  The  parting  on  that  February 
morning  at  the  door  of  Keshub's  little  cabin  near  the  en- 
gine room  was  most  sad.  The  stewards  were  moving 
unconcernedly  about  in  their  shirt-sleeves,  the  interior 
of  the  ship  had  that  strange  sea-smell  suggestive  of  me- 
lancholy separations,  bad  weathers,  and  uncomfortable 
sensations.  We  were  soon  told  to  clear  out,  it  was 
time  to  leave.  We  loaded  Keshub  with  presents  of 
fruits,  sweetmeats,  and  everything  we  imagined  he 
might  need.  Each  one  gave  him  a  tender  hearty 
embrace^  and  the  demonstrations  were  so  repeated  and 
effusive,  that  it  was  a  relief  both  to  Keshub  and  his 
fellow  passengers  when  the  Multan  weighed  anchor, 
and  slowly  glided  down  the  river.  He  continually 
waved  his  pocket  handkerchief  which  grew  fainter  and 
fainter,  till  he  was  lost  to  view  entirely.  We  turned 
our  faces  backwards  into  vacancy,  and  returned  home 
with  heavy  hearts. 

That  Keshub  had  misgivings  about  the  future  manage- 
ment of  his  Church  when  he  left  on  his  distant  voyage 
was  evident  from  the  parting  instructions  he  left  to  the 
Brahmo  missionaries  and  the  congregation.  To  the 
present  writer  he  left  the  casket  and  seal  (given  him 
when  he  was  made  Acharya  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj), 
and  he  also  left  solemn  injunctions  about  the  spiritual 
well-being  of  the  congregation  of  the  Brahma  Mandir. 
Those  principles,  stated  fourteen  years  before  his  death, 
have  a  sad  and  strange  application  to  the  present  time. 
But  who  is  there  to  remember  them,  or  act  up   to   their 


PARTING   INSTRUCTIONS.  213 

leading  ?  "  In  the  progress  of  religious  life,"  said  he 
"  the  spiritual  guide  (guru)  may  be  a  help,  but  never 
the  goal.  No  single  individual  can  be  a  complete 
spiritual  guide.  Every  man  is  a  guide  in  proportion  as 
his  life  and  precepts  help  us  on  the  way  to  spirituality. 
Speaking  of  living  guides  my  own  case  forcibly  comes 
into  view.  Those  who  think  they  have  derived  any 
benefit  from  me  ought  to  give  me  reverence.  But  it 
is  just  so  in  regard  to  the  other  missionaries  also. 
From  what  I  have  taught,  or  am  now  teaching,  or  may 
teach  in  future,  I  cannot  call  any  man  my  exclusive 
disciple.  This  to  me  is  a  matter  of  special  rejoicing. 
There  cannot  be  between  myself  and  others  the  exact 
relationship  of  teacher  and  disciple.  Any  one  calling 
me  his  only  teacher  may  find  obstacles  on  his  way  to 
salvation.  He  who  accepts  and  follows  all  the  ideas  in 
my  mind  might  be  called  my  disciple.  But  even  in 
that  case  he  ought  to  believe  that  it  is  not  I,  but  my 
God  who  is  his  real  guide.  If  a  man  on  listening  to 
four  or  five  precepts  given  by  me,  calls  me  his  guru, 
he  is  guilty  of  untruth.  If  any  man  gives  me  greater 
reverence  than  he  gives  God,  it  is  the  weakness  of  his 
own  faith.  I  never  believe  I  teach  a  single  thing  of 
religion  to  any  man.  It  is  the  object  of  my  life  to  draw 
my  brethren  before  the  presence  of  my  God,  He  will 
teach  them  directly,  may  my  personality  never  stand 
between.  He  who,  according  to  my  advice,  seeks  the 
solution  of  every  difficulty  directly  from  God  alone,  is 
my  true  disciple.  Those  who  profess  to  love  me,  but  do 
not  love  the  brethren  whom  I  have  brought  here,  speak 
falsehood.'5 


214  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

"  On  those  matters  wherein  the  members  of  the  con- 
gregation differ  from  one  another,  they  ought  to  come 
to  an  understanding  while  I  am  still  here.  On  certain 
subjects  it  is  permissible  that  differences  of  opinion 
should  exist  among  them.  Such,  for  instance,  as  ist, 
Whether  God  sends  any  great  men  ;  2nd,  Special 
Providence  ;  3rd,  Whether  salvation  is  possible  without 
bhakti,  or  the  absorbing  love  of  God;  4th,  Whether  with- 
out repentance  even  the  attempt  at  religious  life  is  pos- 
sible ;  5  th,  Reverence  to  spiritual  guides  (guru-bhakhti )  ; 
6th,  Asceticism,  or  the  renunciation  of  the  world. 
There  are  differences  of  opinion  on  these  subjects  among 
Brahmos,  and  there  ought  to  be.  Let  this  be  known 
from  the  beginning.  He  who  believes  in  these  things 
is  a  Brahmo ;  he  who  does  not  believe  in  these  things 
wholly,  is  also  a  Brahmo.  There  must  be  a  declaration 
to  agree  on  general  grounds  in  spite  of  such  differences. 
So  long  as  we  believe  in  fundamental  doctrines,  we 
will  worship  together  in  the  Brahma  Mandir.  My 
opinions  are  not  yet  sufficiently  known  or  expressed. 
Those  who  say  things  in  my  name,  say  a  great  many 
things  that  are  their  own.  If  any  one  says  that  God  is 
not  good,  but  cruel,  he  violates  a  fundamental  doctrine, 
and  there  can  be  no  union  in  such  a  case.  In  small 
matters,  in  details,  there  should  be  no  interference  with 
mutual  liberty.  There  can  be  no  Trust  Deed  to  the 
Brahma  Mandir  until  the  liabilities  are  paid." 

Keshub  landed  at  Marseilles  on  the  iQth  March,  after 
an  interesting  and  on  the  whole  pleasant  voyage.  1  Le 
was  not  a  very  bad  sailor,  and  the  sea  was  tolerably  calm. 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES   OF  EUROPE.  21$ 

His  first  experiences  of  a  European  city  he  always 
described  very  graphically.  The  accommodation  at 
the  French  hotel  was  exceedingly  sumptuous  ;  and 
when  he  laid  his  weary  limbs  on  the  well-polished 
mahogany  bedstead,  the  spring  mattresses  were  pressed 
so  deep  that  he  was  alarmed,  and  felt  as  if  he  was 
going  to  sink  to  the  floor  !  He  called  out  to  his  com- 
panion to  mark  if  he  was  still  visible  on  the  surface. 
On  rising  in  the  morning,  he  looked  out  from  the 
window,  and  was  greatly  astonished  to  find  the  whole 
population  running  away.  Everybody  had  taken  to 
his  heels  !  On  enquiry  he  was  told  that  it  was  so  cold 
outside,  and  everybody  was  so  earnest  about  his  own 
occupation,  that  they  preferred  running  to  walking. 
This  was  contrary  to  all  oriental  notions  of  propriety, 
and  Keshub  thought  such  haste  was  quite  ridiculous, 
he  could  never  wholly  reconcile  it  with  his  sense  of 
decorum.  London  was  reached  on  the  21st  of  March. 
Though  he  had  received  invitations  from  several  in- 
fluential persons  to  receive  their  hospitality,  and  the 
Rev.  Robert  Spears,  on  behalf  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Unitarian  Association,  was  prepared  to  take 
charge  of  his  accommodation,  he  preferred  to  secure 
his  own  quarters  in  the  neighbourhood  of  some  of  his 
young  countrymen  resident  in  the  great  metropolis, 
and  among  them  his  nephew  Mr.  B.  L.  Gupta,  who 
had  gone  to  the  railway  station  to  receive  him.  The 
next  business  was  to  make  use  of  the  important  official 
introductions  he  held.  But  before  he  did  that,  he  saw 
Miss   Cobbe,   Miss    Collet,   and   other   old    correspon- 


216  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

dents  and  friends.  His  staunch  friend  and  patron 
Lord  John  Lawrence  in  the  meanwhile  called  upon 
him,  and  did  all  he  could  to  facilitate  his  progress  in 
the  making  of  acquaintances.  So  the  first  month  was 
passed  in  presentations  and  calls.  Though  he  preached 
for  Dr.  James  Martineau  at  Little  Portland  Street  on 
the  ioth  April,*  where  a  distinguished  congregation 
gathered  to  hear  him,  Keshub's  first  public  appearance 
was  the  welcome  soiree  in  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms 
on  the  1 2th  April,  arranged  for  him  by  the  British 
and  Foreign  Unitarian  Association.  Invitations  were 
issued  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  the  representatives 
of  almost  every  English  religious  denomination  attend- 
ed the  meeting.  The  speeches  and  proceedings  which 
have  been  repeatedly  published,  were  characterized  by 
a  cordial  harmony  which  seemed  for  the  moment  to 
indicate  that  all  sectarianism  and  religious  animosity 
were  at  an  end  in  the  British  Isles.  There  were  three 
or  four  members  of  Parliament,  headed  by  Lord 
Lawrence,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  Indian  reputation. 
Dr.  Cappel  represented  advanced  Roman  Catholicism  ; 
Dean  Stanley  stood  for  the  noblest  phase  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  England,  the  Rev.  Stopford  Brook,  then 
the  prince  of  Broad  Church  clergymen,  was  there  ;  the 
Venerable  Dr.  Marks,  the  patriarch  of  reformed  English 

*  "The  congregation"  says  he  in  the  private  diary  he  kept  up  to  May, 

numbers  about  500.     I  take  a  text   '  In  Ilim   we   live,   and  move,   and   have 

our  being,'  and  explain  God's  reality  and  omnipresence.  ...     I  feel  a  little 

iwkwardncss  and  as  if  I  am  not  quite  at  home."     Nevertheless  he  made  a  very 

good  impression. 


THE   MEETING   OF  WELCOME.  217 

Judaism  attended  ;  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Sharpe,  the 
Egyptologist,  and  Dr.  James  Martineau  the  metaphysi- 
cian, represented  the  two  wings  of  Unitarianism  ;  Dr. 
Mullens  was  the  fit  representative  of  Anglo-Indian 
missionaries,  and  there  were  dozens  of  others  of  lesser 
note,  men  who  flocked  by  an  unaccountable  impulse 
from  every  Christian  denomination,  whom  no  human 
attraction  could  bring  together  before.  Every  one  did 
his  very  best  on  the  occasion,  every  speech  was  the 
outburst  of  sympathy  and  goodwill  for  the  Brahmo 
Somaj.  Well  might  the  Dean  of  Westminster  compare 
the  spectacle  before  him  to  "  the  great  national  sanctu- 
ary committed  to  his  care,  which  enshrines  the  virtue 
and  genius  of  every  sect  alike,  in  which  the  enmities  of 
twenty  generations  lie  buried  and  forgiven."  Keshub 
took  advantage  of  the  harmony  of  the  proceedings  to 
adjure  his  hearers  thus  : — 

"The  peculiarly  Catholic  feature  of  this  meeting  interests  me  deeply.  I 
see  gathered  on  this  great  platform  ministers  of  ten  different  sections  of 
Christ's  Church  assembled  together  to  honour  India,  to  encourage  India 
in  her  great  work  of  self-reformation.*  *  *  *  I  come  here,  my  friends, 
to  study  Christianity  in  its  living  and  spiritual  forms.  I  do  not  come 
to  study  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  but  truly  Christian  life  as  dis- 
played and  illustrated  in  England.  I  come  to  study  the  spirit  of  Christian 
philanthropy,  of  Christian  self-sacrifice,  and  honourable  Christian  self-denial, 
knowing  that  England  has  become  a  great  nation,  not  merely  through 
commerce  and  trade,  but  through  the  self-denying  influence  of  a  life-giving 
religion.  *  *  *  *  Now  I  throw  myself  entirely  upon  your  indulgence  and 
sympathy. #  I  have  explained  to  you  the  great  object  which  has  brought  me 
here.  I  dare  say  you  sympathise  with  me.  I  tell  you  that,  though  there 
are  matters  of  difference  between  myself  and  you  all,  yet  still  the  great  work 
of  abolishing  idolatry  and  caste  in  India  must  enlist  the  sympathy  of  every 
one  here  present.  Let  us,  therefore,  harmoniously  co-operate  to  give  India 
28 


2l8  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  knowledge  of  the  pure  and  saving  God.  Let  us  give  India  true  brother- 
hood, universal  brotherhood,  which  shall  not  recognise  the  distinctions  of 
caste  at  all.  Your  destinies  and  the  destinies  of  India  are  interwoven  with 
each  other ;  your  interests  and  my  interests  are  identified  ;  and  I  hope, 
therefore,  you  will  no  longer  withhold  from  us  that  active  sympathy,  that 
friendly  co-operation,  which  you  have  for  a  long  time  denied  us — not  because 
you  were  wanting  in  sympathy,  but  because  you  did  not  knowT  enough  of  us. 
Let  us  all  unite,  for  the  glory  of  India,  and  for  the  glory  of  England,  to 
discharge  these  great  duties  which  we  owe  to  those  two  countries,  which  an 
all-wise  and  all-merciful  God  has  united  together  in  the  inscrutable  economy 
of  His  providence. 

Such  a  reception,  spontaneous  and  unexpected,  was 
a  fitting  earnest  of  the  brilliant  career  that  lay  before 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  England.  His  engagements 
to  preach  in  London  became  every  day  more  numerous, 
and  wherever  he  went  he  was  received  with  equal 
cordiality  and  enthusiasm.  He  preached  mostly  from 
Unitarian  and  Congregationalist  pulpits,  but  various 
Societies  sought  to  secure  his  co-operation,  chief 
amongst  which  might  be  mentioned  such  heterogen- 
ous bodies  as  the  Peace  Society,  the  Ragged  School 
Union,  different  kinds  of  Temperance  Societies,  and 
the  Swedenborg  Society.  But  his  private  life  in  his 
lodgings  was  not  devoid  of  pleasant  experiences.  Keshub 
received  many  illustrious  visitors.  He  on  one  occasion 
had  a  visit  from  John  Stuart  Mill.  There  was  so 
little  in  common  between  the  two  great  men  that  a 
call  from  the  author  of  Utilitarianism  was  not  within 
the  range  of  the  social  expectations  of  the  Hindu 
apostle.  Mr.  Mill  called  one  morning  without  appoint- 
ment when  Keshub  was  writing  his  home  letters,  which 
he  begged  permission  to  finish  before  he  could  entertain 


VARIOUS   ENGLISH   EXPERIENCES.  2IQ 

his  visitor  as  he  wished.  Keshub's  Hindu  companions 
were  full  of  consternation  lest  offence  should  be  taken 
at  this  request,  but  the  great  philosopher  was  too 
simple  to  take  it  amiss.  He  interested  himself  in  a 
newspaper,  and  quietly  waited  till  Keshub  had  finished 
his  correspondence,  and  found  time  to  attend  to  him. 
They  had  a  conversation  on  general  subjects,  after 
which  Mill  resisted  every  effort  on  Keshub's  part  to 
accompany  him  to  the  door.  The  latter  was  greatly 
impressed  with  the  philosopher's  courtesy  and  meek- 
ness. 

The  Female  Suffrage  Society  drew  much  sympathy 
from  Keshub,  he  says  : — 

"  I  am  delighted  to  see  there  are  so  many  lady  speakers, — and  some  of 
them  spoke  beautifully  with  no  less  rhetoric  than  fluency — and  that  they  are 
so  earnestly  fighting  to  get  admission  into  Parliament.  The  movement 
is  likely  to  succeed  in  this  free  country,  but  it  will  take  some  time." 

The  first  fall  of  snow  greatly  interested  him. 

"  This  day  "  says  he  (March  26th,)  "  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  see  snow 
falling  in  beautiful  flakes.  It  is  a  shower  of  snow  ;  within  a  short  time 
everything  becomes  white — streets,  house-tops,  trees,  and  even  the  umbrellas 
and  dress  of  those  who  are  going  about.  I  am  so  highly  delighted  with  this 
wonderful  natural  phenomenon  that  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  going 
out  into  the  veranda,  and  receiving  a  good  sprinkling  of  flakes  on  my  over- 
coat." 

Keshub  does  not  say  much  of  the  public  men  of 
England.  Of  Mr.  Gladstone  who  invited  him  to 
breakfast,  he  says,  u  Our  host  is  a  very  genial  and  kind- 
hearted  man,  though  his  appearance  shows  he  has  the 
tremendous  weight  of  the  whole  Government  on  his 
shoulders."       He    contents     himself    by    speaking    of 


2  20  LIFE   OF   KFSTTUP.   CHUNDER    SEN. 

Mr.  Disraeli  as  "  the  astute  and  shrewd-looking  leader 
of  the  Opposition."  The  first  time  he  saw  the  Queen 
was  on  the  opening  ceremony  of  the  new  buildings  of 
the  University  of  London. 

"  Her  Majesty  "  he  says,  "  is  a  plain-looking  woman  in  plain  dress,  simple  yet 
dignified.  She  makes  a  graceful  bow  to  the  assembly.  The  Vice-Chancellor 
reads  the  speech  to  the  Queen,  she  hands  over  her  reply,  and  in  the  most 
distinct  manner  declares  the  building  to  be  '  opened.'  Thus  ends  the  brief 
ceremony,  and  the  royal  family  disappears." 

After  he  had  preached  at  several  places  the  anniver- 
sary meeting  of  the  Ragged  School  Union  presided 
over  by  the  late  Lord  Shaftesbury,  impressed  him  most 
favorably.     He  is  reported  to  have  said  : — 

"The  stupendousness  of  the  work  of  charity  which  this  Ragged  School 
Union  has  incessantly  earned  on  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  is  indeed 
amazing.  That  more  than  300,000  persons  of  the  poorest  class  have  been 
saved  from  ignorance  and  poverty  ;  that  there  are  3,200  voluntary  teachers, 
who  are  at  present  engaged  in  the  work  of  educating  the  poor,  and  who 
have  accepted  that  duty  as  a  labour  of  love  ;  that  more  than  200  persons 
who  formerly  belonged  to  the  poorest  and  most  destitute  class  are  now 
engaged  in  the  honourable  avocation  of  teaching  persons  who  now  belong 
to  that  class  ;  that  there  are  scores  of  young  accomplished  ladies  who  are 
engaged  day  after  day  in  the  work  of  giving  instruction  to  the  helpless  young 
children,  very  wild  and  rough,  who  surround  them, — these  are  facts  whose 
eloquence  tells  us  as  no  mere  theory  could  tell  us,  that  those  who  are  engaged 
as  teachers,  or  conductors,  or  supporters  of  these  Ragged  Schools,  are 
really  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  all  those  who  have  hearts  to  feel.'' 

Carrying  with  him  truculent  associations  of  the  com- 
bativeness  of  John  Bull,  Keshub  was  greatly  struck  with 
the  agitation  systematically  kept  up  by  the  leaders 
of  the  Peace  Society  in  England.  Meeting  an  august 
assembly  on  the  17th  May,  at  the  fifty-fourth  anniversary 


MEETINGS   AND    SPEECHES.  221 

of  that  Society,  called  together,  and  pledged  to  make 
war  upon  war,  well  might  he  exclaim  ;  a  I  really  feel 
thrilled  in  the  midst  of  this  assembly,  I  hope  and  trust, 
that  under  this  vigorous  Ministry  every  legitimate 
attempt  will  be  made  to  save  your  Christian  country 
from  the  evils  of  war,  and  from  the  reproach  of  en- 
couraging war.  I  really  cannot  tell  how  the  followers 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace  can  ever  go  to  war." 

The  Temperance  reformers  who  met  at  St.  James's 
Hall  for  the  suppression  of  Liquor  Traffic,  gave  Keshub 
some  energetic  experience  of  popular  enthusiasm  in 
England.  After  his  speech  on  the  evils  of  the  liquor  traffic 
in  India  had  been  finished,  the  vast  audience  stood  up, 
waved  their  hats,  and  gave  him  three  cheers  in  the 
fashion  which  the  English  alone  know  how  to  do.  He 
had  never  witnessed  it  before,  and  never  forgot  it 
afterwards.  Hundreds  of  men  and  women,  pressed 
forward  to  shake  hands  with  him,  which  they  did  so 
heartily  that  the  mild  reformer  feared  his  arms  would 
be  torn  from  their  sockets.  They  thrust  their  faces  into 
his  carriage,  and  vociferated,  "  God  bless  ye  !  "  These 
demonstrations  delighted  him,  amused  him,  perhaps 
now  and  then  alarmed  him.  Great  meetings  followed 
one  after  another.  English  cities  sometimes  take  strange 
fancies  to  idolize  certain  individuals  for  a  season,  and 
London  specially  suffers  from  such  fits  of  sporadic 
hero-worship.  But  the  hero  is  very  seldom  a  theologi- 
cal character.  They  made  an  exception  in  Keshub's 
*avour,  and  though  a  religious  reformer,  he  became  the 
rage  of  the   day.     There   was    no    newspaper  that  did 


222  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

not  chronicle  his  doings,  and  there  was  no  English 
town  to  which  his  fame  did  not  spread.  Punchy  who  is 
always  so  sensitive  to  popular  impulses,  came  out  with  a 
characteristic  little  poem  beginning  thus  : — 

"  Who  among  all  living  men 

"  Is  this  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  ? 

"  Is  he  big  as  a  bull,  or  small  as  a  wren 

"  This  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  ?  " 

There  was  a  very  vast  assembly  on  the  6th  May, 
in  Mr.  Spurgeon's  Tabernacle  at  Newington,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Thames,  and  Keshub  gave  his  well- 
known  lecture  on  "  England's  Duties  to  India."  This 
discourse,  being  general  in  its  character,  dealing  with 
administrative  and  educational  questions  largely,  made 
the  most  wide-spread  sensation  both  in  England  and 
India.  It  was  also  critical  and  national.  He  passed 
certain  strictures  on  the  treatment  which  the  natives 
of  this  country  get  from  their  vigorous  Anglo-Indian 
neighbours,  and  also  on  the  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  India  towards  the  whole  subject  liquor  traffic. 
Lord  Lawrence,  the  recognized  head  of  the  Anglo- 
Indian  community,  presided  at  the  meeting.  The  irrita- 
tion caused  by  the  lecture  was  quite  disproportionate 
to  the  amount  and  nature  of  criticism  made.  For  the 
time  Keshub  was  abused  by  the  Anglo-Indian  Press 
with  an  energy  and  unanimity  which  caused  some 
anxiety  to  his  friends.  Every  Englishman  who  sub- 
scribed for  our  newspaper  the  "  Indian  Mirror,"  with- 
drew his  name,  Keshub's  motives  were  cruelly  aspersed, 
and  one   irate   Briton   in   Bombay  publicly  threw  out  a 


AN   INTERVAL   OF   UNPOPULARITY.  223 

challenge  that  he  would  give  500  Rs.  to  any  one  who 
would  venture  to  read  the  lecture  on  England's  Duties 
to  India  in  his  presence  while  he  stood  horsewhip  in 
hand  !  Keshub  himself  was  imperturbable  at  all  this 
rage,  his  universal  popularity  in  England  carried  him 
safely  through  it,  and  when  he  returned  home,  much  of 
the  fury  had  died  out.  Yet  for  a  long  while  afterwards, 
Englishmen  in  India  regarded  him  with  very  suspicious 
feelings,  and  often  asserted  that  his  head  was  turned  by 
the  indiscriminate  "  lionizing  "  administered  to  him  in 
England.  How  and  by  what  process  this  unpopularity 
disappeared,  and  he  came  to  have  the  unbounded  con- 
fidence of  the  Anglo-Indian  community,  is  more  than 
we  can  describe.  Undoubtedly  his  integrity,  his  wide 
humanity,  his  lofty  virtue  survived  every  calumny,  and 
disarmed  every  suspicion.  It  may  also  be  said  perhaps 
that  no  human  being  has  a  deeper  perception  of  honesty 
and  worth  than  the  real  Englishman.  And  when  he 
saw  that  the  man  who  had  ventured  to  point  out  his 
faults  had  done  so  with  motives  that  were  blameless, 
for  the  good  of  the  Hindu  and  the  Englishman  alike, 
he  appreciated  Keshub  all  the  more  for  it ;  his  courage 
and  frankness  drew  greater  respect  and  confidence  than 
he  had  got  before.  Thus  Keshub  conquered  the  opposi- 
tion which,  in  any  other  case,  might  have  proved  most 
formidable. 

On  the  28th  May  another  great  meeting  was  held  at 
St.  James's  Hall  where  he  described  his  attitude  to 
Christ  and  Christianity.  The  London  Spectator  came 
out  with  the  following  comment  : — 


224  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

"A  unique  sort  of  lecture  on  '  Christ  and  Christianity'  was  delivered  last 
Saturday  at  St.  James's  Hall  by  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  from  the  stand-point 
of  Indian  Theism.  Coming  to  the  Bible  in  the  course  of  an  independent 
religious  experience,  he  said  that  he  had  there  found  what  helped  and 
nourished  him,  and  in  describing  this  in  detail,  he  included  not  only  the 
general  teachings  of  the  Gospel,  but  '  the  sublime  egotism  of  Christ,'  who 
'  constantly  preached  himself  as  '  the  way  '  to  God."  But  Christianity  held 
a  different  language  from  that  of  Christ  ;  it  was  split  up  into  one-sided  sects, 
who  placed  salvation  in  various  externalities  ;  and  not  in  the  '  Christ  in  the 
heart.'  The  moderation  and  kindliness  with  which  Mr.  Sen  indicated  the 
shortcomings  of  English  Christianity,  and  the  fervent  eloquence  with  which 
he  painted  the  realities  of  a  true  spiritual  faith,  made  a  very  favourable 
impression  upon  a  large  and  mixed  audience." 

Spending  thus  in  various  engagements  nearly  two 
months  in  the  metropolis,  acquiring  great  reputation 
which  extended  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  British  Isles,  Keshub  left  for  the  provincial  towns 
of  England.  Friendly  young  ladies  wrote  recipes  of  his 
daily  diet,  and  circulated  them  among  his  intending 
hosts,  and  the  indefatigable  Mr.  Spears,  the  then  Secretary 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Unitarian  Association,  who 
had  taken  over  the  whole  charge  of  Keshub's  accommo- 
dation, drew  up  a  routine  of  his  daily  habits  which 
were  published  in  handbills.  These  documents  went  in 
the  following  style  : 

■•  Mr.  Sen  desires  to  retire  at  10  o'clock  p.  m.  He  takes  a  cup  of  tea  (no 
bread)  at  8  in  the  morning.  His  devotions,  correspondence,  and  bath,  till 
half-past  10.  He  takes  breakfast  at  half-past  10,  and  enjoys  private  study 
till  I.  From  I  till  5  enters  on  engagements,  which  may  be  arranged  by 
friends.     At  5  he  dines,  and  from  6  to  10  he  is  open  to  engagements. 

"  Mr.  Sen  and  his  cousin  Mr.  Prosonno  are  vegetarians,  and  so  abstain 
from  all  animal  food  and  eggs,  and  all  alcoholic  drinks  as  well.  Their  drink 
i>  water  or  lemonade,  they  also  enjoy  warm  milk.  For  breakfast,  the 
following  may  be  prepared  :  boiled  rice  and   sliced   potatoes  fried   in   butter; 


TAKEN  ILL   IN  MANCHESTER.  225 

also  vegetable  or  pea-soup.  Dinner  the  same  as  breakfast,  with  fruit,  pud- 
dings and  sweets ;  no  eggs  in  the  pastry.  In  all  cases  they  desire  to  be 
entertained  together." 

With  incessant  labour,  lecturing,  preaching,  talking, 
his  sensitive  nervous  system  strained  continually  to  its 
utmost  tension,  eating  boiled  rice,  drinking  lemonade, 
how  long  could  he  hold  out  against  the  merciless 
exactions  of  English  society  ?  So  in  the  hot  month  of 
June,  while  travelling  in  Lancashire,  he  was  taken 
suddenly  and  severely  ill.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brooke  Her- 
ford,  of  Manchester,  now  of  Boston,  who  had  him  then 
as  their  guest,  were  exceedingly  concerned  about  his 
case.  He  suffered  from  acute  vertigo,  accompanied  by 
fever  and  retching.  The  family  in  Calcutta,  seeing  a 
report  of  his  illness  in  the  papers,  was  in  a  perfect 
agony  of  anxiety.  Expensive  telegrams  were  sent  to 
which  the  good  Mr.  Spears  wired  an  immediate  reply. 
"  No  fear.  Perfectly  cured.  Resumed  work."  His 
English  friends  say  Keshub  was  too  much  alarmed  at 
his  own  illness  ;  probably  the  fate  of  Ram  Mohun  Roy 
involuntarily  suggested  itself  to  his  imagination.  His 
engagements  had  to  be  postponed  for  awhile,  and  the 
doctor  prescribed  rest,  light  work,  and  plenty  of  recreation. 
He  removed  to  Liverpool,  where  the  late  Mr.  Dawburn 
and  his  family,  living  in  a  suburban  retreat,  accom- 
modated him  most  comfortably,  and  took  the  most 
affectionate  care  of  his  health.  With  the  exception  of 
this  interval  of  illness  which,  with  the  period  of  con- 
valescence, extended  to  about  three  weeks,  Keshub  kept 
tolerably  good  health,  and  did  no  end  of  useful  work.  The 
29 


2  26  LIFE    OF   KESIIUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

very  first  place  he  visited  in  his  provincial  tour  was  Bristol, 
the  home  of  Miss  Alary  Carpenter,  whose  intimate 
acquaintance  he  had  made  two  years  ago  in  India. 
Miss  Carpenter  had  materially  helped  his  operations  in 
London  with  the  great  influence  she  possessed  with 
Unitarian  leaders,  as  well  as  with  such  eminent  men 
as  the  late  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and  others.  But  as 
soon  as  Keshub's  London  engagements  were  over,  she 
insisted  upon  a  visit  to  Bristol,  and  received  him  in  the 
celebrated  Red  Lodge  House,  the  chief  peculiarity  of 
which,  as  it  struck  Keshub,  was  that  "  the  servants  joined 
the  inmates  of  the  family  in  the  daily  Divine  service." 
Miss  Carpenter  took  in  hand  her  oriental  guest  most 
completely,  and,  with  her  well-known  discipline,  gave 
him  incessant  directions  about  the  usages  and  etiquette 
of  English  society.  Her  restless  philanthropy  criticised 
his  dress,  his  diet,  even  the  manner  of  combing  his  hair  ; 
in  fact  she  hemmed  him  in  with  so  many  injunctions,  and 
engagements,  that  the  mild  Hindu  reformer  felt  incon- 
veniently straitened,  and  had  now  and  then  to  protest. 
We  are  afraid  Miss  Carpenter  at  times  found  Keshub 
an  intractable  pupil,  and  in  the  end  something  like  a 
coolness  sprang  up  between  them,  but  Keshub  bravely 
pulled  through  the  crisis  at  Red  Lodge  House.  If 
the  experiences  at  Bristol  were  somewhat  checkered, 
they  had  their  bright  side  also.  In  honour  of  Keshub's 
visit,  Miss  Carpenter  founded  the  National  Indian  Asso- 
ciation, the  proceedings  of  which  are  successfully 
carried  on  in  London  down  to  the  present  day.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  Bristol  was  the  last  resting  place 


VISIT  TO   BRISTOL.  227 

of  Raja  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  and  enshrines  his  ashes 
at  Lewin's  Mead  Cemetry.  Keshub  made  a  solemn 
pilgrimage  to  the  grave,  where  he  knelt  down,  and 
offered  a  fervent  prayer  : — 

"  I  especially  offer  prayer  for  the  soul  of  that  illustrious  man  who  came 
from  my  country,  aud  whose  remains  lie  here.  Nourish  his  soul  and  heart 
with  strength,  and  purity,  and  piety,  that  he  may,  O  Lord,  find  the  blessings 
of  communion  with  Thee  through  everlasting  ages.  And  have  mercy,  my 
Father,  upon  all  my  brothers  and  sisters  gathered  in  this  chapel  this  morning  ; 
sanctify  their  hearts,  purify  their  resolutions  and  aspirations,  and  O  our  living 
God,  gather  us  together  in  Thy  holy  family,  that  we  may  learn  to  worship  Thee 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  as  our  common  Father,  in  time  and  eternity.     Amen." 

Professor  F.  W.  Newman,  his  early  correspondent  and 
old  friend,  to  whom  he  at  all  times  owed  much  encour- 
agement and  edification,  came  to  see  him  from  Weston 
Super  Mere  in  the  neighbourhood.  Mr.  Newman  was 
celebrated  for  his  peculiar  views  and  habits.  He  was  an 
anti-vaccinationist,  anti-meat-eater,  and  anti-Christian 
in  those  days.  They  exchanged  many  vegetarian 
sympathies,  and  theistic  ideas,  and  had  some  contro- 
versies also.  The  late  excellent  Misses  Winkworth  ex- 
tended to  him  their  refined  hospitality,  and  invited  him 
to  their  house  at  Clifton.  Altogether  Keshub's  visit  to 
Bristol  was  profitable.  Once  in  the  provinces,  Keshub 
longed  to  pay  a  visit  to  wStratford-on-Avon.  He  had 
a  constitutional  admiration  for  Shakespeare,  and  could 
never  bear  the  idea  of  leaving  England  without  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  birthplace  of  the  immortal  poet. 
How  often  do  we  remember  to  have  heard  him  quoting 
the  adage  "  Possessed  of  the    Bible   and   Shakespeare, 


228  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

a  man  is  above  the  world."  From  his  childhood  up- 
wards, he  was  always  playing,  or  reading,  or  quoting 
Shakespeare.  There  was  much  of  the  Hamlet  ideal 
in  his  cast  of  mind,  and  Herr  Bandman,  the  famous 
Shakespearian  player  said  "  he  had  the  model  Hamlet 
make-up."  He  always  felt  a  rapture  in  dwelling  upon 
the  weird  character  of  Lady  Macbeth,  he  recited  the 
wild  words  of  the  Witches  in  awe-inspiring  accents ; 
Desdemona,  Juliet,  and  Portia  fascinated  his  chaste 
nature.  Now  came  the  opportunity  of  walking  in  the 
very  scenes  where  the  author  of  so  much  beauty, 
romance,  wisdom,  vigour,  lived,  laboured,  meditated  and 
died.  From  Bristol  passing  hurriedly  through  Bath, 
he  proceeded  to  Stratford,  and  saw  every  one  of  the 
sights  which  are  the  delight  of  so  many  millions  of 
pilgrims.  In  the  quaint  little  chapel  on  the  banks  of 
winding  leafy  Avon,  he  knelt  in  reverence  before  the 
grave  of  William  Shakespeare,  the  prophet  of  true 
poetry  ;  in  the  quaint  dingy  little  cottage  he  saw  the 
garret  in  which  the  immortal  bard  was  born,  the  rough 
deal  table  on  which  his  carved  his  name,  and  on  which 
perhaps  he  composed  his  Hamlet.  The  retired,  antique, 
verdant  look  of  Stratford  pleased  him  immensely,  and 
thence  he  went  on  his  onward  journey  to  other  great 
cities  of  England. 

An  unpleasant  incident  happened  to  him  about  this 
time.  Some  emissary  deputed  by  a  number  of  bigoted 
Christian  missionaries  in  Calcutta,  circulated  a  leaflet 
in  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  discredit  Keshub 
before  the  English  public  with  the  statement  that   while 


UNPLEASANT  EXPERIENCES.  229 

he  preached  monotheism  in  foreign  countries,  he 
allowed  idolatry  to  be  freely  practised  in  his  own  home. 
The  fact  of  the  case  was  that  Keshub  up  to  that  time 
was  one  of  the  members  of  a  large  joint  family,  many 
of  whom  were  believers  of  the  orthodox  Hindu  poly- 
theism, and  Keshub  had  as  little  right  to  interfere  with 
their  forms  of  worship  as  they  had  with  his.  He  had 
his  Brahmo  Somaj  service,  and  they  had  idolatrous 
offerings,  in  different  parts  of  the  same  large  family 
house.  An  inexperienced  foreign  missionary  going 
into  the  house  would  be  struck  with  the  incongruity  of 
the  two  things,  and  feel  inclined  to  charge  the  reformer 
wTith  sanctioning  idolatry.  The  slander  got  up  in  the 
heat  of  the  controversy  in  regard  to  the  conversion 
into  Christianity  of  a  Hindu  girl,  said  to  be  a  distant 
relative  of  Keshub,  was  soon  contradicted,  and  he 
travelled  about  in  England  as  triumphantly  as  before. 

He   recites  a  somewhat  similar  persecution  during  his 
stay  in  London  : — 

"  I  received  a  letter  the  other  day  from  a  lady,  Mrs.  Bevan,  a  perfect 
stranger  to  me,  saying  she  had  something  very  important  to  communicate 
to  me,  and  that  she  would  be  glad  to  see  me  at  lunch  some  day.  With  great 
curiosity  I  drive  down  to  see  her.  But  how  bitter  and  sad  is  my  disappoint- 
ment when  I  find  that  after  giving  me  a  somewhat  cold  reception  she  begins 
to  preach,  and  catechises  me  as  to  what  my  difficulties  are  in  accepting 
Christ  in  the  orthodox  way.  It  shows  her  warm  and  firm  faith  indeed,  but 
to  me  it  is  anything  but  agreeable  after  the  trouble  and  expense  incurred  in 
coming  all  this  distance.  At  last  she  feels  she  is  not  a  preacher  enough 
and  recommends  me  to  see  her  guru,  who,  I  believe,  is  a  dissenting 
minister." 

But  if  some  of  his  Christian  friends  were  inconsider- 
ate, others  were   kind-     A    number     of  the  Trinitarian 


230  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

clergy  of  Nottingham  presented  him  a  most  cordial 
address  in  which  after  complimenting  him  on  his 
advanced  views  they  devoutly  prayed  for  his  "  percep- 
tion of  the  whole  truth  of  Christianity."  Keshub,  in  a 
carefully  worded  reply,  pointed  out  the  contending 
dogmas  of  Christian  sects,  and  candidly  said,  "  however 
unwilling  I  might  be  to  accept  these  dogmas,  I  beg  to 
assure  you  that  I  am  anxious  to  imbibe  the  blessed 
spirit  of  truly  Christian  life,  Christ-like  meekness, 
resignation,  charity,  and  self-sacrifice.  And  so  far  as 
these  may  be  found  in  the  lives  of  men  and  women  in 
this  country,  I  shall  humbly  and  thankfully  accept  them 
for  my  own  and  my  country's  use." 

A  somewhat  hurried  tour  was  made  through  the 
north  of  England  and  Scotland  in  August.  He  re- 
ceived splendid  ovations  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow, 
and  at  Leeds  leading  Unitarian  gentlemen  established 
a  branch  of  the  National  Indian  Association  which, 
some  months  before,  Miss  Mary  Carpenter  had  founded 
at  Bristol  in  honour  of  Keshub's  visit  to  that  city. 
Keshub's  sojourn  in  England  was  now  drawing  to  a 
close.  One  deep  wish  he  had  in  his  mind.  The  Prime- 
Minister  of  England  Mr.  Gladstone  had  already  invited 
him  to  breakfast,  he  now  desired  to  have  the  honour  of 
paying  his  homage,  to  Her  Gracious  Majesty  the  Queen- 
Empress.  It  was  a  great  honor,  but  the  Hindu  re- 
former's reputation  had  now  so  thoroughly  pervaded 
English  society,  that  Her  Majesty  must  have  heard  of 
him.  Lord  Lawrence  had  great  influence  at  the  Eng- 
lish court,  and  the  Duke  of  Argyle  who  was  Secretary  of 


RECEPTION   BY   THE   QUEEN   EMPREES.  23  I 

State  for  India  at  the  time,  has  ever  been  known  as 
the  patron  of  virtue  and  worth.  Miss  Collet  gives  a 
graphic  account  of  Keshub's  presentation  to  the  Queen. 
The  Duke  of  Argyle,  the  Queen's  brother-in-law,  wrote 
to  Keshub  making  the  appointment  thus  : — "  Dear 
Mr.  Sen, — Col.  Ponsonby,  the  Queen's  Private  Secre- 
tary, has  written  to  me  that  if  you  go  down  to  Osborne 
on  Saturday  the  13th,  Her  Majesty  will  see  you.  I 
recommend  you  to  take  the  8=10  A.  M.  train  from 
Waterloo  Bridge  to  Southampton.  There  is  a  steamer 
in  connection  with  the  train,  and  you  are  landed  at 
Cowes,  whence  you  can  take  a  fly  to  Osborne."  On 
the  appointed  day  Mr.  Sen  accompanied  by  an  English 
friend,  proceeded  to  Osborne.  On  reaching  the  royal 
residence  he  was  very  kindly  received  by  Colonel  Pon- 
sonby, the  Queen's  Private  Secretary,  with  whom  he 
had  a  pleasant  conversation  on  several  subjects,  mostly 
relating  to  India,  and  particularly  on  the  Brahmo 
Marriage  Bill,  in  which  Colonel  Ponsonby  seemed  to 
take  much  interest.  Mr.  Sen  was  then  taken  round 
the  corridor  to  see  the  drawing-room,  and  other  elegant 
apartments,  and  a  vegetarian  luncheon  was  kindly 
provided  for  him.  At  the  appointed  hour  he  was  taken 
to  the  drawing-room  in  wmich  he  was  to  see  the  Queen, 
where  Her  Majesty  and  the  Princess  Louise  soon  ap- 
peared. Her  Majesty  expressed  much  satisfaction  at  the 
progress  of  female  education  in  India,  and  the  im- 
provements made  in  several  respects  by  her  Indian 
subjects  in  consequence  of  English  education.  Both 
the   Queen   and   the   Princess   were   glad  to  hear  that 


2  7,2  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

India  is    a  great  field    for   philanthropic   labours,    and 
that    Mr.  Sen   had    requested  many  of  his  lady  friends 
in  England   to    go    thither   to  undertake  the   work    of 
female  education.     Mr.  Sen  had  brought  with  him   two 
likenesses  of  his  wife,   one  of  them   being  a  large  and 
delicately  painted  photograph,  showing  the  full   Hindu 
dress.     These  portraits  were  graciously  accepted  by  the 
Queen  and  the   Princess  ;  and  Prince   Leopold  sent   to 
request     Mr.    Sen's     autograph.      On    the    23rd    Au- 
gust,    Colonel     Ponsonby     wrote    to    Mr.    Sen     from 
Windsor,     saying  : — "  I     can     assure     you     that     the 
Queen    was  much  pleased  with  her  conversation  with 
you,    and   Princess   Louise   took  much   interest  in  the 
subject  you  spoke  about."     A  few  days  afterwards  the 
Queen    and   Princess   Louise  honoured  Mr.  Sen  by  ex- 
pressing  their   desire  to  have   his  photograph.     Their 
kind  wish  was   conveyed   to    Mr.  Sen  in   a   letter  from 
Major  General  Sir  T.  M.  Biddulph,  in  which  he  said  : — 
"  He   has   been   desired  to  intimate  to   him  (Mr.  Sen) 
that   it   would   be    gratifying    to    the    Queen    and    to 
Princess   Louise   to   possess  photographs    of  him   if  he 
would  not  object  to  send  some."     Before  Mr.  Sen   left 
England,    the  Queen  further  showed  her  kindness  by 
presenting  him  with  a  large  engraving  of  herself,  and  with 
her  two  books  (the  "  Early  Years  of  the  Prince  Consort " 
and  the  "  Highland  Journal "),  the  value  of  which  was 
enhanced   by   the   following  inscription  in  each  volume, 
in  her  own  handwriting:  "To  Keshub    Chunder    Sen, 
from  Victoria  Re.     Sept.,   1870." 

On    the     1 2th    September    a   farewell    meeting    was 


THE  FAREWELL   MEETING.  233 

convened  at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms  which  had 
already  been  the  scene  of  an  enthusiastic  welcome  to 
Keshub  in  April.  No  less  than  eleven  denominations 
were  represented  on  the  occasion.  Speeches  were  as 
cordial  as  before,  and  Keshub's  goodbye  was  deeply 
affecting.  Mr.  Spears  gave  a  brief  summary  of  Keshub's 
proceedings  in  England  during  his  six  months'  sojourn 
thus : — 

"  It  may  be  interesting  to  the  present  meeting  and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sen 
to  have  before  them  the  catholicity  of  the  engagements  and  duties  of  a 
public  character  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  since  the  welcome  meeting 
in  these  rooms.  He  has  visited  fourteen  of  the  chief  towns  of  England  and 
Scotland,  and  lectured  or  conducted  religious  services,  occupying  the  pulpits 
of  Baptist,  Congregational,  and  Unitarian  chapels.  He  has  had  invitations 
from  upwards  of  forty  towns  which  he  has  not  been  able  to  visit.  He  has 
addressed  meetings  promotive  of  Peace,  Temperance,  Reformatories, 
Ragged  Schools,  and  General  Education.  He  has  also  spoken  to  gatherings 
of  children  at  different  places,  and  at  medical,  literary,  and  philosophical 
institutions.  He  has  addressed  the  students  at  the  Borough-Road  British 
and  Foreign  School,  and  spoken  at  several  social  meetings.  The  Babu  has 
addressed  several  meetings  at  the  Tabernacle,  the  East  Indian  Association 
Rooms,  and  other  places,  on  the  Duties  of  England  to  India,  and  on  Zenana 
or  Female  Education.  He  has  also  preached  to  large  congregations  of  the 
poor  in  the  east  of  London.  Mr.  Sen  has  thus  had  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  at  upwards  of  seventy  different  public  meetings  since  his  arrival  in 
England  to  upwards  of  forty  thousand  people  ;  and  has  attended  a  large 
number  of  meetings  of  a  less  public  character  than  those  now  mentioned,  at 
which  he  has  also  taken  some  part." 

The  Spectator  of  the  time  summarized  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting  in  these  words  :— 

"  Our  Eastern  visitor,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  took  leave  of  his  English 
friends  last  Monday,  at  a  crowded  gathering  in  the  Hanover- Square  Rooms, 
previous  to  his  return  to  India.  After  a  few  speeches  from  representatives 
of    various    religious    denominations    (among    which    Professor    Plump  tre's 

30 


234  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

remarks  on  the  Brahmo  movement,  and  the  Rev.  H.  Ierson's  on  English 
sects,  were  notably  good),  Mr.  Sen  gave  his  impressions  of  England.  He 
painted  our  social  peculiarities  and  follies  with  a  light,  humorous  touch, 
spoke  of  our  great  social  evils  with  earnest  regret,  and  expressed  his 
admiration  of  "  the  three  great  blessings  of  England,"  her  charities,  her 
homes,  and  her  public  opinion.  On  these  he  dwelt  eloquently,  and  urged 
his  hearers  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  promote  the  growth  of  similar  blessings 
in  India,  where  they  are  so  much  needed.  Lastly,  he  spoke  of  English 
religion,  and  especially  of  Christianity,  giving  utterance  to  a  series  of 
thoughts  and  conceptions  which  showed  the  intense  spirituality  of  his  nature 
and  the  fulness  and  depth  of  his  Theism,  and  indicated  more  transcendental 
power  than  anything  he  has  said  here  before.  He  ended  by  thanking 
England  for  his  hospitable  reception,  saying,  "  that  from  Her  Majesty  to  the 
poorest  peasant,"  all  had  been  kind  to  him.  With  honest  simplicity, 
he  put  aside  the  public  praise,  "  which  he  did  not  deserve,"  and  took  only 
the  affection,  of  which  he  could  with  difficulty  speak  unmoved." 

Keshub's  last  words  to  the  meeting  were,  it  seemed, 
wrung  out  of  his  soul,  so  great  was  the  kindness  and 
affection  universally  shown  to  him. 

"  My  brethren,  the  time  has  come  for  me  to  say  the  last  word  of  farewell. 
From  England  I  go  away,  but  my  heart  will  always  be  with  you,  and 
England  will  always  be  in  my  heart.  Farewell,  dear  England  ;  '  with  all 
thy  faults  I  love  thee  still.'  Farewell,  country  of  Shakespeare  and  of 
Newton,  land  of  liberty  and  charity.  Farewell,  temporary  home,  where  I 
realised,  and  tasted,  and  enjoyed  the  sweetness  of  brotherly  and  sisterly  love  ! 
Farewell,  my  Father's  Western  house !  Farewell,  my  beloved  brothers 
and  sisters." 

Keshub  left  London  for  Southampton  on  the  17th 
September.  A  meeting  had  been  arranged  for  him 
there,  and  he  spoke  a  few  parting  words.  He  embarked 
on  the  same  day  in  the  P.  and  O.  Company's  Steamer. 
Australia,  and  reached  Bombay  on  the  15th  October. 
A  deputation  from  the  Prarthana  Somaj  (the  local  name 
for   Brahmo   Somaj)    waited   upon  him,  and  invited  him 


RETURN  HOME.  235 

to  give  an  address  on  his  English  visit.     He  addressed 
a  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  in  the  Framji  Cowasji 
Hall   on   that   subject   the   next   day,    and   in  his  dis- 
course  dwelt  very  much  upon  the  same  topics  as  in  his 
farewell  address  at  London.     On  the   20th  October,   at 
about   midday,   the  Howrah  Station  was  crowded  by  an 
immense     concourse     of    Keshub's     friends    who    had 
come   to  receive  him.     As  the  train  steamed  in,  deafen- 
ing  cheers   shook   the   great   platform.     The   welcome 
home  was  most  touching  and   enthusiastic.     The   house 
at  Colutolah  was  the  scene  of  continued  festivities  by 
day,  and  brilliant  illuminations  by  night.     Keshub  never 
tired  of  reciting   his   European   experiences.     He  un- 
packed the  numerous  presents  he  had  received,  and  the 
numerous  purchases  he  had  made.     He  reverently  ex- 
hibited the  gifts  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  Empress  and 
the  royal  family.     Crowds  of  visitors  called  to  see  him. 
The   whole   household    at  Colutotah,    specially  his  fond 
sorrowing  mother,  and  his   warm-hearted  wife   gloried 
to   get  him  back.     We  gave  him  on  behalf  of  the  con- 
gregation   an    affectionate   reception  at   the    Belgharia 
Garden.     He   on   his   part  gave  a  warm  recognition  of 
the   services   rendered   to   his   family   by   the    faithful, 
devoted  Kanty  Chunder  Mitter  in  whose  hands   he   had 
confidently   entrusted  their  charge.     The  present  writer 
humbly   made   over   to   him    the   ministerial   seal   and 
casket.     And    when    Keshub    once    more   sat   on   the 
pulpit  of  the  Brahma  Mandir  on  the  Sunday   following, 
his   royal  figure,   and  noble  mien,  improved,  dignified, 
flushed  with  health  and   success,   drew   the   honor   and 


236  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

admiration    of    large    crowds    who    had    gathered    to 
hear  him. 

The  record  of  Keshub's  English  visit  could  not  be 
closed  without  alluding  to  the  valuable  friendships  he 
formed  in  the  course  of  it.  Chief  among  these  was  his 
intimacy  with  Miss  S.  D.  Collet.  This  lady  with  her 
extraordinary  powers,  strange  physical  incapacities,  and 
unique  history,  followed  the  path  of  Keshub's  move- 
ments in  England  with  a  devoted  interest  which  the 
loyalty  of  his  most  faithful  disciples  could  not  excel. 
For  eight  long  years  Keshub's  indefatigable  friend  and 
unfailing  helper,  her  cordial  relations  with  him  ended 
with  the  Cuchbehar  marriage.  Thenceforth  her  sym- 
pathies suffered  the  violent  reaction  which  put  her  so 
far  out  of  understanding  with  Keshub's  career,  that 
almost  every  representation  she  made  of  his  motives 
and  actions  afterwards  bore  the  evident  bias  of  her 
revulsed  sensibilities.  Other  friendships  lasted  far 
better.  Two  amongst  these  deserve  a  special  mention  ; 
Professor  Max  Miiller,  and  Dean  Stanley  were 
Keshub's  lifelong  friends.  The  Professor  in  his  Bio- 
giaphical  Essays  says  u  Stanley  had  been  to  the  end 
a  staunch  friend  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  As  was 
usual  with  him,  the  attacks  on  the  Indian  Reformer 
had  only  served  to  strengthen  Stanley's  sympathy  for 
him,  and  he  had  several  times  asked  me  whether  and  how 
he  could  help  him."  As  for  Max  Miiller  himself,  his 
services  to  India  are  not  to  be  measured  only  by  the 
valuable  literary  tribute  he  has  repeatedly  paid  to 
Hindu   philosophy   and  faith,  but  the  personal  affection 


PERSONAL   FRIENDSHIPS    IN   ENGLAND.  237 

and  solicitude  he  has  shown  for  every  Hindu,  for  every 
Oriental  he  has  met,  are  characteristic  of  the  man.  The 
Biographical  Essays  are  full  of  correspondence  which 
shows  the  relations  of  fraternal  cordiality  and  intense 
esteem  in  which  he  held  Keshub.  He  has  made  the 
best  and  bravest  defences  of  Keshub's  career,  and  his 
was  the  most  eloquent  testimony  of  all,  borne  by  so 
many,  of  the  worth  and  character  of  the  departed 
reformer.  The  gracious  reception  given  to  Keshub  by 
the  Queen,  and  the  kind  interest  which  Her  Majesty 
ever  afterwards  showed  in  his  welfare,  had  a  most 
profound  moral  effect  upon  his  mind.  His  loyalty  had 
the  color  of  romance  in  it,  it  became  a  part  of  his 
religion.  The  books  and  pictures  which  Her  Majesty 
presented  he  treasured  up,  and  regarded  almost  with  a 
superstitious  honor.  He  beheld  the  hand  of  God  in 
the  sceptre  swayed  by  the  Empress  of  India.  It  is 
interesting  to  think  what  phase  the  revolutionary 
political  activities  of  Young  India  would  have  taken  if 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  lent  them  the  weight  of  his 
influence  and  sympathy.  But  though,  as  his  lectures 
in  England  and  India  show,  he  was  an  uncompromising 
champion  of  justice  and  equality,  yet  he  was  equally 
uncompromising  in  maintaining  the  highest  standards 
of  loyalty  to  the  Imperial  throne.  The  hospitality  and 
friendship  extended  to  him  in  England  "  from  the 
poorest  peasant  to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,"  made  him 
regard  England  and  India  as  the  two  mansions  of  the 
Great  Father's  house,  one  "  His  Eastern  Home,"  and 
the  other  "  His  Western  Home." 


2}8  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 


5 


The   most    original    impression   which    Keshub   pro- 
duced   amongst    the   thoughtful    in    England   was  the 
possible    formation    of    an    Asiatic    Christianity.     The 
spirituality,    imaginativeness,    faith,    enthusiasm,    and 
asceticism  of  the  East  could  never  be  bound  within  the 
cold   creeds   and    catechisms    of    Europe.     When   they 
witnessed    the    profusion   of    this    Asiatic    warmth   in 
Keshub's  utterances  and  character,  found  him  to  be  the 
leader  of  a   young,   growing,   abounding  church,  found 
besides  the  genuineness   and  depth  of  his  attachment 
to  the  Messianic  ideal  of  Jesus,  they  felt,  more   perhaps 
than    they   cared   to    express,    that   the   future    of    the 
world's  religion  lay  in  the  East,  and  not  in  the  West.    It 
was  James  Martineau  only,  who,  at  Keshub's  reception 
found    courage  to   say   "  While   quick   to    absorb   and 
appropriate    all    modern    science,    the    Indian    genius 
would  do  so  without  sacrificing  at  the  same   time   the 
divine    interpretation    of    the   universe.     With   sublter 
thought  and  gentler  affections,  it  would  go  behind  the 
phenomena  that  stop  our  way,  and  bring  back  the  flood 
of  the  divine  light  in  the  world.'' 

In  a  short  letter  written  to  the  late  Rev.  W.  H. 
Channing  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  England, 
vSept.  1 6th,  Keshub  speaks  his  mind  on  this  subject 
thus  : — "  The  East  and  West  will  unite — such  is  God's 
will.  The  signs  of  the  times  greatly  encourage  me, 
and  my  visit  in  this  country  has  clearly  convinced  me 
that  it  is  possible  to  make  the  world  our  home,  and  to 
love  all  as  brothers  and  sisters.  God's  Spirit  is  working 
everywhere.  Blessed  is  he  who  sees  the  work,  and 
realizes  the  Divine  Spirit." 


239 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ESTABLSHMENTS  AND  INNOVATIONS. 
Keshub  as  a  Reformer,  1871-1875. 

rvESHUB'S  English  visit  opened  the  latent  powers 
of  his  inexhaustible  mind.  From  the  number  of  his 
public  appearances,  on  every  occasion  of  which  he  had 
to  speak,  very  often  at  great  length,  and  generally  on 
the  same  subjects,  it  was  to  he  feared  that  by  the  time 
he  thought  of  returning  home  to  India,  he  would  be 
thoroughly  used  up.  Far  from  that  being  the  case, 
the  last  oration  he  made  at  the  farewell  soiree  in 
London,  indicated,  observed  the  Spectator  "  a  more  tran- 
scendental power  than  anything  he  said  before."  But 
the  mental  unfolding  related  not  merely  to  principles 
and  sentiments  but  to  strong  positive  philanthropic 
activities.  It  has  been  already  said  that  an  endless, 
almost  a  superhuman  force  formed  the  principal  charac- 
teristic of  Keshub's  genius.  It  always  found  vent  in 
new  plans,  new  reforms,  new  creations.  When  stirred 
by  fresh  experiences,  such  as  he  acquired  in  England, 
that  force  showed  a  wonderful  fertility.  The  first  thing 
which  Keshub  did  after  his  return  to  Calcutta  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Indian  Reform  Association  in 
Nov.  1870  for  "  the  social  and  moral  reformation  of  the 
Natives  of  India."  It  had  five  sections,  namely,  Cheap 
Literature,  Charity,  Female  Improvement,  Education, 
and   Temperance,     The   influence   of  such   newspapers 


240  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

as  the  Times  and  the  Echo  struck  him  with  the  irre- 
sistible power  of  English  public  opinion  in  exposing 
wrong,  encouraging  right,  and  educating  the  common 
people.  The  comparative  inexpensiveness  of  such  an 
agency,  Keshub  having  a  printing  press  of  his  own, 
suggested  and  facilitated  its  adoption  among  a  poor 
nation  like  the  Hindus  of  Bengal.  And  with  the  ready 
instinct  of  a  true  reformer  he  started  the  Suluv  Sama- 
char,  (cheap  news)  in  Nov.  1870.  It  was  a  weekly 
pice  paper  under  the  management  of  the  new  association, 
the  first  enterprise  of  its  kind  in  India,  and  made  a 
great  sensation,  meeting  with  an  unexpected  success. 
Three  to  four  thousand  copies  were  weekly  sold,  an 
unprecedented  newspaper  sale  at  that  time  in  the 
country,  and  those  classes  who  had  never  handled  a 
newspaper  before,  began  eagerly  to  read  and  pay  for 
the  Suluv  Samachar.  Keshub's  friends,  heedless  of 
their  social  position,  began  to  walk  from  street  to  street, 
hawking  the  paper,  oftentimes  without  food,  or 
protection  against  the  weather.  Chief  amongst  these 
was  Wooma  Nath  Gupta,  the  most  faithful  and  devoted 
of  Keshub's  disciples,  who  in  every  undertaking  that 
entailed  fatigue  and  privation,  was  the  first  to  offer  his 
enthusiastic  services.  The  novelty  and  success  of  this 
newspaper  stimulated  repeated  imitations,  till  at  the 
present  moment,  cheap  journalism  has  become  a  wide- 
spread institution,  and  created  a  public  opinion  which 
the  Government  itself  is  obliged  to  respect.  Of  this 
kind  of  vernacular  journalism  in  Bengal  then,  daily 
growing    in    influence    and    importance,     (and  in    this 


FEMALE   EDUCATION   AND   OTHER   REFORMS.        24 1 

matter  Bengal  has  set  the  example  to  all    other   Indian 
provinces)   Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  pioneer.     His 
zeal  and  reform  however  did  not  stop  here.     The  intelli- 
gence  and    refinement  of  the  women   of  England   had 
delighted  him,  and  he  established  the  Normal  School  for 
Native    Ladies   under  the  Female  Improvement  Section 
of  the   Indian   Reform   Association.     This    reform    was 
equally   successful.     Nearly  fifty  ladies,   all   from   high 
class    Hindu   families,    regularly   attended    the    school 
every  day,  giving  and  receiving  instruction  in  the  most 
advanced  branches   of  knowledge.     Never   before   had 
women  from  the  Zenana  mustered  so  strong  to  receive 
the  light  of  Western  education.     The  Government  was 
so  well  satisfied  with  their  progress  of  studies,  that  an 
annual    grant    of    Rs.     2,000   was    sanctioned.      Pupil 
teachers  were  regularly  trained  both  in  the  English  and 
vernacular   languages,   and   some   of  the  young  ladies 
attained  a  high  state  of  proficiency.     At   the   annual 
exhibitions  for  prize  giving,  the  Viceroy  and  the  ladies 
of   the    Viceregal    court    were    repeatedly    present   to 
encourage  their  Hindu  sisters.     Altogether  female  im- 
provement took  a  new  start,  and  made  great  strides 
forward.     Keshub  had  enthusiastically  worked  in  con- 
nection writh  the  Temperance  Societies  in  England,  and 
he  fully  meant  to  continue  these  activities  at  home,  be- 
cause intemperance  was  making  a  sad  havoc  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Bengal.     Under  the  Temperance  Section 
of  his  Reform  Association,  he  and  his  friends  laboured 
for  successive  years,  firstly  in  the  direction  of  producing  a 
wholesome  horror  in  the  mind  of  the  rising  generation 

31 


242  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

against  drinking,  and  secondly  in  the  direction  of  a 
reform  in  the  excise  administration  of  the  country  by 
exposing  the  evils  of  Government  liquor  policy  through 
the  publication  of  facts  and  figures.  Lectures  were  also 
delivered,  tracts  were  written,  and  a  monthly  Temper- 
ance journal  was  started.  A  numerous  Band  of  Hope 
was  organized  for  the  young.  Keshub  also  organized 
a  department  of  charity  on  enlightened  and  economic 
principles.  A  great  amount  of  relief  was  administered 
by  this  agency  both  in  the  shape  of  almsgiving,  and 
the  distribution  of  medicine  in  large  tracts  of  the 
country  stricken  by  epidemic  diseases.  An  Industrial 
School  was  at  the  same  time  established,  giving  in- 
struction to  large  numbers  in  branches  of  technical 
knowledge.  The  moral  influences,  the  healthy  convic- 
tions, and  the  public  impression  caused  by  Keshub's 
labours  in  the  cause  of  Temperance  induced  the 
Government  of  India  to  order  special  inquiries  into  the 
working  of  its  liquor  policy.  Keshub,  as  president  of 
the  Indian  Reform  Association,  issued  a  circular  inviting 
the  opinions  of  all  public  men,  both  Native  and 
European  in  1872.  Most  valuable  and  varied  sugges- 
tions came,  which  were  embodied  in  the  form  of  a 
memorial  to  Government.  This  agitation  encouraged 
other  bodies  to  send  similar  memorials.  The  Board  of 
Revenue,  in  the  interests  of  Government  finance,  had 
to  make  a  formal  criticism  of  all  these  memorials,  and 
denied  the  occasion  or  possibility  of  reform.  In  spite  of 
all  this,  however,  Lord  Northbrook  recorded  an  emphatic 
decision  "  that  the    number  of  liquor  shops  should    be 


FEMALE  EDUCATION   AND   OTHER  REFORMS.        243 

reduced  to  the  utmost  degree  compatible  with  the 
requirements  of  the  neighbourhood."  And  in  the 
revision  of  the  Bengal  excise  system  consequent  on 
these  discussions,  as  embodied  in  Act  II  of  1876, 
"  several  steps  in  advance  were  taken,"  we  quote  from  the 
language  of  the  official  report.  With  a  programme  of 
such  extensive  and  important  reforms,  with  an  influence 
and  popularity,  he  had  never  possessed  before,  with  a 
robust  and  renewed  health,  favoured  alike  by  Govern- 
ment and  the  people,  Keshub  entered  into  a  fresh 
career.  The  Native  Ladies'  Normal  School,  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made,  was  founded  in  Feb.  187 1. 
And  it  was  supplemented  by  another  institution  called 
Bama  Hitaisini  Sava  (society  for  the  benefit  of  women), 
in  connection  with  which  ladies  read  papers,  and  carried 
on  discussions  which  were  presided  over  by  Keshub 
himself.  These  classes  and  meetings  were  not  open  to 
the  public,  they  were  held  in  the  retirement  of  the  zenana, 
the  restrictions  of  which  Keshub  relaxed  very  gradu- 
ally. Miss  Collet,  in  one  of  her  Year  Books,  quoted  a 
passage  from  the  annual  report  of  this  Society.  "  The 
lively  manner  in  which  the  discussions  were  conducted 
often  evinced  a  great  amount  of  earnestness  and 
interest.  The  arguments  used  on  such  occasions  were 
subsequently  embodied  in  the  shape  of  essays  by  some 
of  the  members,  and  published  in  the  Bamabodhini 
Pattrika"  This  was  for  a  long  time  the  only  ladies' 
journal  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  being  founded  nine  years 
previous,  about  1 862,  by  a  band  of  young  men,  chief  among 
whom  was  Babu  Umesh  Chunder  Dutt,  still   the  Editor 


244  LTFE   0F   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

of  that  journal.  The  steadiness  and  perseverance  with 
which  this  gentleman,  a  veteran  in  the  cause  of  female 
education,  has  laboured  in  this  department  of  the  work 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  deserves  the  highest  praise. 
Miss  Radharani  Lahiri  was  the  secretary  of  the  Bama 
Hitaishini  Sava  as  long  as  the  Society  was  alive.  Her 
example  and  acquirements,  the  devoted  self-sacrifice 
with  which  she  has  given  the  best  years  of  her  life  to 
the  improvement  of  her  sex,  have  won  the  admiration 
of  the  whole  Brahmo  community.  This  gentleman 
and  lady  were  of  great  service  to  Keshub's  cause  at 
this  time.  These  educational  reforms,  however,  spread 
out  in  other  directions  as  well.  The  Industrial  School, 
and  working  men's  classes,  about  the  establishment  of 
which  we  have  already  spoken,  filled  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
offices  with  a  new  kind  of  activity  and  turmoil.  The  saw- 
ing, chopping,  hammering  went  on  with  undiminished 
vigor  month  after  month  ;  boxes,  chairs,  and  cabinets 
sprang  into  being.  Clerks  from  Government  offices,  gra- 
duates from  the  neighbouring  colleges,  Brahmo  mission- 
aries, headed  by  Keshub  himself,  took  to  these  occupa- 
tions with  workmanlike  avidity  ;  while  professional  book- 
binders, tinkers,  and  carpenters  plodded  at  literary 
industry,  reading  primers,  and  working  sums  at  arith- 
metic under  the  feeble  light  of  oil  lamps  after  nightfall. 
With  what  effect  Keshub  learnt  these  handicrafts  was 
evidenced  during  his  last  illness  at  Simla,  where  being 
medically  ordered  to  take  to  light  work,  he  produced 
his  celebrated  treatise  on  Yoga  on  the  one  hand,  and 
on    the  other   busied  himself  in  turning  out  little  pieces 


AGITATION   ON   THE   BRAHMO   MARRIAGE   P.TLL.     245 

of  furniture,  the  workmanship  of  which  made  some 
one  exclaim  that  "  he  could  not  have  done  better  if  he 
had  given  his  whole  life  to  carpentry  alone."  Keshub 
was  a  mechanic  and  artist  by  nature.  He  had  an 
inborn  propensity  for  fixing  furniture,  hanging  pic- 
tures, screening  cabinets,  raising  structures,  and  mana- 
ging machinery.  He  devoted  hours  and  days  to  such 
occupations  with  surprising  seriousness.  His  stage- 
managing  gifts,  first  evidenced  at  the  youthful  dramas, 
he  retained  to  the  last.  At  one  time,  when  he  was  a 
very  young  man  he  drew  and  painted  all  sorts  of 
pictures  with  great  persistency.  He  had  a  scrupulously 
neat  hand  writing,  the  result  of  much  careful  practice. 
Whatever  he  planned,  or  executed,  was  characterized 
by  a  taste,  and  an  exquisiteness  peculiarly  his  own. 
He  was  a  lover  of  beauty,  both  internal  and  external, 
and  he  knew  besides  the  art  of  making  the  beautiful 
useful. 

The  most  important  incident  of  1871,  however  was 
the  violent  agitation  about  the  Brahmo  Marriage  Bill. 
The  measure,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Governor  General's  Council  at  Simla 
in  September  1868,  by  Sir  Henry  Maine,  the  Law 
Member  of  the  Government  of  India,  when  Keshub 
was  kindly  invited  to  that  hill  sanitarium  by  Lord 
John  Lawrence.  Sir  H.  S.  Maine  made  elaborate 
speeches  explaining  the  necessity  of  the  measure  chiefly 
on  the  ground  that  "  it  was  not  the  policy  of  the 
Queen's  Government  to  refuse  the  power  of  marriage 
to  any  of  Her  Majesty's  subjects,  and   that  he  doubted 


246  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

even  whether  orthodox  Hindus  would  wish  to  deny  to 
the  Brahmos  a  privilege  fully  enjoyed  by  Sonthals,  and 
Gonds."  But,  said  he,  as  the  creed  of  the  Brahmos 
lacked  stability,  (he  had  ascertained  this  by  frequent 
conversations  with  Mr.  Sen,  their  leader),  and  "  it 
would  be  difficult  for  legal  purposes  to  define  a 
Brahmo,  and  if  no  definition  were  given,  there  might 
shortly  be  petitions  for  relief  by  persons  who  were  in 
the  same  legal  position  as  the  present  applicants,  but 
who  declared  that  they  could  not  conscientiously  call 
themselves  Brahmos,  hence   the  Bill  had   been  drawn 

with  some  degree  of  generality It   would 

be  in  substance  a  Civil  M arriage  Bill,  having,  however, 
the  peculiarity,  that  the  persons  availing  themselves 
of  the  new  power  must  not  be  Christians  (to  whom  a 
special  system  of  marriage  registration  applied),  and 
must  expressly  object  to  be  married  with  the  rites  of 
any  one  of  the  recognized  Native  religions.  With 
religious  ceremonial  it  would  not  be  concerned.  The 
Brahmos  could  add  to  the  requirements  of  the  law 
whatever  ritual  they  preferred,  and  the  result  would  be 
that,  as  in  several  European  countries,  there  would  be 
first  a  civil,  and  afterwards  a  religious  marriage." 
Sir  H.  S.  Maine  pointed  out  that  previous  legislation 
on  the  subject  had  relieved  all  persons,  excluded  from 
the  communion  of  any  religion,  or  renouncing  any 
religion,  or  put  out  of  caste,  from  the  forfeiture  of  the 
rights  of  property,  and  inheritance,  but  by  an  oversight 
had  omitted  to  confer  on  them  the  right  of  contracting 
marriages,  not  in  accordance   to  orthodox  usages,  but 


AGITATION   ON   THE   BRAHMO   MARRIAGE    BILL.      247 

their  own  convictions.  With  the  view  of  supplying 
this  omission  in  the  case  of  all  modern  Indian  religious 
communities,  whose  marriages  were  invalidated  by 
the  same  reasons  that  made  Brahmo  marriages  invalid, 
Sir  Henry  Maine  proposed  a  general  Civil  Marriage 
Act  that  would  include  all  recent  religious  sects  in 
India,  and  all  those  who  objected  to  marry  according 
to  prescribed  rites.  Now  the  entire  orthodox  commu- 
nity took  serious  alarm  at  this.  They  raised  a  mighty 
uproar  from  all  sides.  They  complained  that  such  a 
law  would  cause  the  utter  disruption  of  the  ancient 
social  organization  in  the  land  by  giving  every  heretic 
the  right  of  marrying  whomsoever  and  howsoever  he 
chose,  and  still  retaining  his  position  and  its  advant- 
ages in  Hindu  society.  The  opposition  was  so  serious 
that  the  Select  Committee  to  which  the  Marriage  Bill 
had  been  referred  in  1868,  after  obtaining  the  opinions 
of  the  local  authorities  in  different  Provincial  Govern- 
ments on  the  subject,  came  to  the  following  conclusion 
in  1 87 1  : — "It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Local 
Governments  that  the  Bill  as  introduced  should  not  be 
passed.  They  all,  on  the  other  hand,  agree  that  the 
Bill  would  be  unobjectionable  if  confined  to  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  for  whose  benefit  it  was  originally  designed. 
We  have,  accordingly,  narrowed  its  operation  to  the 
members  of  that  sect.  .  .  .  We  recommend  that 
the  Bill  thus  altered  be  passed." 

In  the  meantime  Sir  Henry  Maine,  the  framer  of  the 
Bill  in  its  original  shape,  had  left  India,  and  his 
successor  Sir  James   Stephen  took  up  the  measure  in 


248  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

its  modified  form.  Keshub  felt  he  was  within  measur- 
able distance  of  seeing  the  law  passed.  But  an 
unforeseen  difficulty  arose.  During  the  last  three  years 
it  was  the  Hindus  who  opposed  the  Brahmos,  but  when 
the  measure  was  narrowed  down  to  the  limits  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  only,  it  was  the  Brahmos  who  opposed 
the  Brahmos.  Hence  the  opposition  became  exceed- 
ingly and  intensely  personal.  The  Adi  Brahmo  Somaj 
sent  its  representatives  to  wait  in  deputation  upon 
Mr.  Stephen  expressing  concern  and  alarm  at  the 
new  form  of  the  Bill,  and  requesting  further  delay. 
The  deputation  was  followed  up  by  a  memorial  in 
which  reasons  were  specifically  set  forth  why  the 
Bill,  as  a  Brahmo  Marriage  Bill,  should  not  be  passed. 
The  chief  reason  urged  was  that  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
was  not  outside  the  pale  of  the  Hindu  communion,  and 
its  marriages  as  hitherto  celebrated,  were  both  in  cere- 
mony and  in  spirit,  as  valid  as  any  Hindu  marriage 
could  be.  Any  new  law  passed  to  give  sanction  to  the 
present  marriage  rites  of  the  Brahmos  would  in  the  first 
place  assume  that  all  previous  marriages  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  were  illegal,  and  in  the  second  place  determine 
the  status  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  as  distinct  from,  and 
outside  of  the  limits  of  Hindu  society.  The  English  legal 
authorities  had  already  pronounced  Brahmo  marriages 
to  be  unfit  for  the  sanction  of  Hindu  law,  it  remained 
now  to  be  decided  whether  the  leaders  of  orthodox  Hindu 
society  also  judged  them  in  the  same  light.  And  a  great 
agitation  was  got  up  to  receive  the  decision  of  the 
learned  Pandits  of  Calcutta,  Benares,  and  Nuddea  on 


AGITATION  ON  THE  BRAHMO  MARRIAGE  BILL.     249 

the  subject.  An  outburst  of  strong  language,  and  not 
a  little  personal  animadversion  was  levelled  against 
Keshub,  and  his  friends  actively  retorted.  Letters  were 
addressed  by  Keshub  to  the  leading  authorities  of 
Hindu  society,  and  the  rituals  both  of  the  Adi  Somaj 
and  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  were  submitted  to 
their  judgment.  They  almost  unanimously  declared 
that  both  the  rituals  were  equally  un-Hindu  and  illegal 
according  to  orthodox  usages.  This  settled  the  matter 
so  far.  But  there  was  a  real  grievance  which  the  Adi 
Somaj  pleaded.  They  said  the  form  of  Civil  Marriage 
prescribed  by  the  new  law  was  revolting  to  their  reli- 
gious instincts,  they  could  not  conscientiously  adopt  the 
statutory  form  of  registration  before  an  official,  and  as 
they  believed  their  marriage  rites  to  be  perfectly  legal, 
it  was  needless  oppression  to  compel  them  to  appear 
before  Marriage  Registrars  who  might  not  be  members 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  at  all.  The  formal  renunciation 
of  the  Hindu  religion  required  by  the  statutory  declara- 
tion, was  also  against  their  conviction  and  conscience, 
they  believed  the  Brahmo  religion  was  in  essence 
Hindu  religion.  And  they  complained  that  the  pre- 
amble of  the  Bill  was  so  ambiguous  that  it  would 
include  in  its  operations,  not  only  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
of  India,  on  whose  behalf  the  Bill  was  framed,  but  the 
Adi  Somaj  as  well,  thus  invalidating  the  marriage  rites 
of  the  latter,  which  were  sound  enough  in  their  own 
eyes.  This  just  contention  was  at  once  recognized  by 
Keshub,  and  by  his  recommendation  one  of  the  sec- 
tions of  the  Act  provided  that  "  Nothing  in  this  Act 
32 


250  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

contained     shall   affect  the  validity  of   any  marriage 
not    solemnized   under   its  provisions ;    nor   shall   this 
Act   be  deemed  directly  or  indirectly  to  affect  the  vali- 
dity of  any  mode  of  contracting   marriage  ;  but  if  the 
validity  of  any   such   mode   shall   hereafter   come   into 
question    before    any    court,    such    question    shall   be 
decided  as  if  this  Act  had  not  been  passed."     The  name 
of   the    Act   therefore,   in    consideration   of   the   diffi- 
culties suggested,  was  changed  from  H  Brahmo  Marriage 
Act,"   to  Native  Marriage  Act,  and  it  was  passed  after 
much   discussion   on  the   19th   March,    1872.      Keshub 
exulted,  and  was  very  grateful  to  Government  for  pass- 
ing this  measure,  which  gave  legislative  sanction  to  a 
variety  of  reforms  which  were   very  near  to  his  heart. 
Bigamy  and  polygamy  were  made  impossible  in  the 
Brahmo    Somaj.      Infant    marriages    were    abolished. 
The    husband    was    bound    to    complete    the    age    of 
18  years,  and  the  wife  the  age  of  14   years.     Idolatry 
was  expunged.     The  two  former  evils  were  made  penal 
by  the   new   marriage   law.     Intermarriages  were  for- 
mally recognized  by  the  legislature,  and  widow  mar- 
riages were  sanctioned  as  a  matter  of  course.     True  the 
form  of  civil  registration   was   repugnant  to  the   feel- 
ings  of    the   religious  Hindu,    but   it  ought  to  be  re- 
membered that  the  men  and  women  who  married   ac- 
cording  to   Brahmo   rites   had   to   a   large   extent   set 
aside   the   restrictions    of  the  Zenana,  and   again   that 
almost    all    the    Registrars    appointed  under   the  Act 
at    that    time    were    Brahmos.     There  was   only    one 
serious  disadvantage,  and  that  was  the  formal  declara- 


AGITATION  ON  THE  BRAHMO  MARRIAGE  BILL.      25  I 

tion  on  the  part  of  the  marrying  parties  that  they 
"  did  not  profess  the  Hindu,  M ahomedan,  Christian, 
Parsee,  Budhist,  Sikh,  or  Jaina  religion."  In  the 
memorial  which  was  drawn  up  at  the  instance  of 
Keshub  by  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  and  sub- 
mitted to  Government  in  answer  to  that  from  the 
Adi  Somaj,  it  was  dictinctly  stated  that  "  the  term 
*  Hindu '  does  not  include  the  Brahmos,  who  deny  the 
authority  of  the  Vedas,  are  opposed  to  every  form  of 
Brahminical  religion,  and  being  eclectics  admit  pro- 
selytes from  Hindus,  Mahomedans,  Christians,  and 
other  religious  sects."  Such  a  statement  no  doubt 
made  it  easier  for  Mr.  Stephen  to  secure  the  enactment 
of  the  measure,  but  this  undoubtedly  diminished  its 
popularity.  Hindus  and  all  other  opponents  of  the 
law  found  it  impossible  to  continue  their  hostility  to  it, 
when  those  who  sought  its  protection  voluntarily  cast 
themselves  out  of  the  pale  of  Hindu  as  well  as  of  every 
other  orthodox  community.  But  on  the  other  hand  a 
large  number  of  Indian  Theists,  both  in  Bengal  and  other 
presidencies,  felt  that  they  could  not  conscientiously 
abjure  the  all-inclusive  Hindu  name.  Keshub  was 
placed  in  the  dilemma  of  choosing  between  two  painful 
alternatives  ;  either  to  disown  the  Hindu  name,  or  not 
to  have  the  law  passed  at  all.  He  preferred  to  abide 
by  the  disadvantage  of  the  former.  He  always  felt  he 
was  a  Hindu  by  nationality,  and  in  the  old  Aryan  spirit. 
His  personal  habits  in  their  abstemious  simplicity  were 
those  of  the  orthodox  Hindu.  He  despised  the  out- 
landish  fashions   of    the   day.     But   the   name   Hindu 


252  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER  SEN. 

came  in  later  times  to  mean  the  followers  of  surround- 
ing idolatries  and  Brahminical  superstitions  which  he 
unhesitatingly  reprobated.  He  meant  to  cover  the 
disadvantage  of  renouncing  the  name  by  an  abundance 
of  the  true  Hindu  spirit  and  life.  And  both  before  and 
after  this  time,  specially  since  the  announcement  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  he  made  the  most  heroic  efforts  to 
make  his  movement  intensely  Hindu  in  form  as  well  as 
in  essence.  Nevertheless  the  fact  remains  that  the 
protest  against  the  Hindu  name,  which  the  new  mar- 
riage law  made  indispensable,  will  continue  to  be  a 
serious  drawback  towards  its  universal  acceptance 
in  India. 

Parallel  to  the  agitation  of  procuring  the  decision  of 
Hindu  Pandits,  Keshub  set  on  foot  another  most 
important  agitation.  It  was  on  the  subject  of  as- 
certaining the  proper  marriageable  age  of  Hindu  girls. 
The  custom  of  early  marriage  he  warmly  condemned. 
As  President  of  the  Indian  Reform  Association  he 
addressed  in  April  1871  a  circular  letter  to  the  most 
eminent  medical  authorities  in  India  wishing  to  have 
their  opinion  on  the  question.  Keshub  in  a  speech  at 
the  Town  Hall  thus  summarized  their  views  : — 

"  The  medical  authorities  in  Calcutta  unanimously 
declare  that  sixteen  is  the  minimum  marriageable  age 
of  girls  in  this  country.  Dr.  Charles  makes  a  valuable 
suggestion  ;  he  holds  that  fourteen,  being  the  com- 
mencement of  adolescence,  may  for  the  present  be 
regarded  as  the  minimum  age  at  which  Native  girls 
may   be  allowed  to  marry,  and  may  serve  as  a  starting- 


THE  MINIMUM  MARRIAGEABLE   AGE  OF  GIRLS.      253 

point  for  reform  in  this  direction.  In  conformity  with 
his  suggestion  and  the  opinions  given  by  the  other 
referees,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  for  the 
present  at  least,  it  would  be  expedient  to  follow  the 
provision  in  the  Bill  which  makes  fourteen  the  minimum 
marriageable  age  of  girls  in  this  country,  leaving  it  in 
the  hands  of  time  to  develop  this  reform  slowly  and 
gradually  into  maturity  and  fulness." 

Keshub  justly  considered  the  passing  of  the  Marriage 
Bill  the  greatest  triumph  of  his  career  as  a  reformer. 
But  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his  spiritual  functions 
amidst  the  excitement  of  that  triumph.  Throughout 
the  year  1871  he  systematically  inculcated  and  insisted 
upon  the  supreme  importance  of  unity  and  love  among 
advanced  Brahmos.  He  put  before  them  the  great 
ideal  of  a  household  of  God.  The  worshippers  in  the 
Brahma  Mandir,  and  the  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  of  India,  he  taught,  were  a  great  family  of 
brethren  and  sisters,  they  ought  to  live  as  such.  He 
taught  the  doctrine  of  an  apostolic  brotherhood  and 
sisterhood,  a  kind  of  spiritual  commonwealth  in  which 
all  advantages,  both  temporal  and  religious,  were  to  be 
held  without  distinction.  Unforeseen  facilities  to  de- 
velop this  ideal  into  an  experiment  presented  them- 
selves. A  number  of  Brahmo  missionaries  had  during 
his  absence  in  England,  taken  up  their  residence  with 
their  families  in  the  old  three-storied  house  now  pulled 
down,  at  No.  13  Mirzapur  Street,  whither  the  Indian 
Mirror  Office,  and  the  Indian  Mirror  Press  had  also 
been  removed.     When  Keshub  returned  home  he  found 


254  £,IFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEX. 

these   families   congregated   together,    and    the    house 
being   spacious,   other   families  were   soon   invited    to 
join.     Taking  this  for  his  nucleus,  Keshub  established 
in  February  1872  the  institution  known  as  the  Bharat 
Asram.     It   was   a  kind   of  religious   boarding   house. 
The   wives   and   children   of  Brahmos   in  the   mofussil 
were  sent  to  it  for  training.     About  twenty-five  families, 
consisting   of   men,    women,    and   children   thus   lived 
together,   having   their   devotions,   studies,    and   meals 
together,   and  showing   the  noblest  dispositions  of  love 
and    good    will    towards    each    other.      The    Brahmo 
missionaries   and   their   families  formed  the  centre   of 
them    all.     One   of  the    great  lessons   which   Keshub 
professed  to  have  learnt  in  England  was  the  blessedness 
of  the  English   home.     Ever   ready  to  embody  in   in- 
stitution every  great   idea   he  acquired,    and  make  his 
Church    the    sharer   of    his   faith    and   experience,    he 
founded   this   new  home   of  the  Bharat  Asram  for  his 
fellow  believers.     He  meant  it  to  be  a  modern  apostolic 
organization,   where  the   inmates   should  have  a  com- 
munity of  all  things,  and  where  every  worldly  relation 
should  be  merged  in  spiritual  fellowship.     He  joined  it 
for  a  while  with  his  wife  and  children.  Every  mischievous 
orthodox  restraint  was  gradually  withdrawn,  and  every 
obnoxious    fashionable    liberalism    was    restrained,    a 
natural  and  beneficial  social  intercourse  being  regulated 
by  sound  and    strict  religious  as  well  moral  teaching. 
Regularly   every   morning  he  conducted  the  domestic 
devotions   with   a   sweetness  of  spirituality  ever  to  be 
remembered.     Carefully  framed  rules  and  enlightened 


THE  BHARAT  ASRAM.  255 

disciplines  were  laid  down  for  the  daily  guidance  of  the 
men   and   women.     The    institution    was    successively 
located  in  splendid  houses  and  gardens.     The  unwhole- 
some relations  of  the  Hindu  Zenana  life  were  laid  aside, 
the  women  joined  the  men  in  daily  devotions  and  fre- 
quent companionship.     The  men  allowed  their  manners 
to   be   softened   by   feminine   influence,   and   willingly 
learnt  to  honour  the   other   sex.     The   Native   Ladies' 
Normal   School   held  its  sittings  in  the  Asram.     The 
Bama  Hitaishini  Sava   convened   its    meetings    there. 
Thus    domestic    pursuits,   systematic  education,  enter- 
taining conversations,  occasional  lectures,  and  scientific 
experiments  alternated  with  each  other  in  the  routine  of 
the  Bharat  Asram. 

From  the  establishment  of  the  Bharat  Asram  began 
the    steady    development  of  the  apostolic    community 
which  almost  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  formed  Keshub's 
great   ambition.      He  had  laid   its   foundation   in   the 
Sangat  Sava  in  i860,  he  had  organized  it  in  1866  in  the 
Mission    Office   when   the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  was 
established,  and  now  he   wanted   to  perfect  it  further. 
He  felt  he  had  established  the  Fatherhood  of  God.     All 
India,  and  all   the  world  gave  him  sympathy  for  that. 
He  now  turned  his  attention  to  organize  the  Brother- 
hood  of  Man,    on    a  simple  theistic  basis.     The  most 
touching    prayers    and    precepts    which    his    religious 
culture   and  experience  could  produce,  were  delivered. 
He  threw  his   whole    soul    into   the  undertaking.     In- 
dividual culture   and   devotions   were   discouraged,  for 
the  time.     Every  hymn  that  was  sung  was  sung  in  the 


256  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

name  of  all  the  brethren  and  sisters,  old  hymns  that 
put  forth  individual  aspirations  were  altered,  much 
to  the  damage  of  the  poetry,  to  suit  this  communistic 
spirit.  Individuality  from  this  time  forward  was  regard- 
ed as  a  formidable  sin.  The  common  meals,  common 
studies,  common  devotions,  common  work,  the  whole 
system  of  Bharat  Asram  life  was  intended  to  make 
the  brethren  and  sisters  entirely  one  in  mind  and 
spirit.  It  was  very  like  one  of  those  experiments  made 
in  modern  America  for  a  primitive  religious  life.  The 
Brahmo  missionaries  threw  their  whole  heart  into  the 
matter,  and  became  much  more  united  in  heart  than 
they  had  ever  been.  The  Church  became  more  perfect. 
The  five  years  that  the  Bharat  Asram  lasted  it  was 
a  useful,  delightful  institution.  Its  influences  have 
changed  and  elevated  the  careers  of  many  Brahmo 
families.  Its  memories,  its  friendships  are  undying  in 
their  sweetness  and  sacredness  to  many  souls.  The 
lessons  of  devotional  and  apostolical  life  learnt  there 
have  influenced  the  whole  subsequent  life  of  some  of 
the  inmates.  But  amidst  these  congenial  elements 
there  was  also  an  undercurrent  of  discord.  Not  a  few 
persons  who  lived  in  the  Bharat  Asram,  Brahmo  mission- 
aries as  well  as  others,  misbehaved  grossly  now  and 
then,  and  had  undignified  quarrels.  There  were  some 
lay  Brahmos  whose  differences  with  the  missionaries 
were  most  serious.  These  have  all  joined  the  Sadharan 
Somaj  now,  but  for  a  number  of  years  before  they  left, 
they  showed  the  tendency  of  separating  from  Keshub's 
movement.     For  various  private  provocations  some  of 


THE   BHARAT  ASRAM  LIBEL   CASE.  257 

them  spread  slanderous  reports  against  the  Bharat 
Asram.  The  calumny,  directed  personally  against 
Keshub,  and  his  most  trusted  disciples,  took  such  a 
virulent  character,  and  formidable  proportions,  that  in 
the  interests  of  the  Brahmo  community,  he  was  obliged 
to  prosecute  a  vernacular  paper  in  which  the  charges  re- 
peatedly appeared.  The  case  went  up  to  the  High  Court 
of  Calcutta  towards  the  end  1874.  It  must  be  said  that 
the  Native  opinion  of  Calcutta  was  very  largely  hostile 
to  Keshub,  and  the  consequent  unpopularity  he  had  to 
suffer  was  very  great.  He  with  his  small  band  of  faithful 
followers  defied  a  host  of  enemies.  There  was  no  reason- 
able doubt  about  the  result  of  the  law-suit,  but  just  as  his 
counsel  was  arguing  the  points,  Keshub  said  that  even 
if  in  that  stage  of  the  case  the  offenders  withdrew  their 
statements,  and  expressed  contrition  for  what  they  had 
done,  he  would  stop  the  proceedings.  The  defendants 
had  the  good  sense  to  accept  this  offer,  and  made  an 
apology.  The  case  accordingly  was  withdrawn.  Evil- 
disposed  men  did  not  change  their  attitude  of  distrust 
either  towards  Keshub,  or  the  Bharat  Asram,  but  the 
honour  and  sanctity  of  the  institution  were  sufficiently 
vindicated,  and  the  impartial  public  felt  great  respect 
for  the  forbearance  which  the  leader  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  showed  to  his  enemies  at  that  critical  time. 

The  foundation  of  the  present  Albert  College  was 
laid  in  the  Calcutta  School  for  Boys,  which  was  affili- 
ated to  the  Indian  Reform  Association  in  1872.  All 
his  life  Keshub  had  been  the  champion  of  general 
education.  Beginning  from  the  Colutolah  Evening 
00 


258  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

School  when  he  was  himself  a  boy,  he  had  successively 
established  many  a  class,  many  a  school  which  for  want 
of  funds  and  co-operation  he  had  not  been  able  to  keep 
up.  Now,  along  with  the  other  institutions  which 
sprang  out  of  the  Reform  Association  he  had  set  up, 
he  took  the  management  of  this  school  which  was 
destined  to  develop  its  prospects  and  usefulness  into  a 
College  placed  upon  a  lasting  footing.  But  this  attempt 
caused  him  more  anxiety  and  pain  than  he  was  pre- 
pared for.  As  soon  as  the  Calcutta  School  began  to 
do  well,  and  was  placed  under  the  able  rectorship  of 
Keshub's  younger  brother  Krishna  Behary  Sen,  the 
person,  to  whom  this  institution  had  originally  belonged, 
and  who  was  retained  still  as  a  teacher,  though  his  pro- 
prietory rights  had  ceased,  began  to  be  envious  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  School,  and  circulated  all  manner  of  re- 
ports against  Keshub's  honesty,  with  a  view  to  represent 
the  injustice  of  the  dealings  by  which  the  school  had 
been  taken  out  of  his  hands.  The  scandal  caused  by 
this  attempt  formed  a  pendant  to  that  caused  by 
the  calumnies  brought  against  the  Bharat  Asram. 
Keshub,  always  sensitive  of  his  own  reputation,  as  well 
as  of  his  Church,  suffered  intensely  from  these  persecu- 
tions. But  the  sufferings  were  not  unrelieved  by  in- 
tervals of  great  encouragement  and  success. 

In  March  1874  Lord  Northbrook,  accompanied  by 
his  daughter,  came  to  visit  the  Native  Ladies'  Normal 
School,  which  held  an  exhibition  of  the  works  of 
Hindu  women  in  their  honour.  Lord  Northbrook  who 
was   as   friendly  to  Keshub  as   his   predecessors   Lord 


POPULARITY   WITH   THE   OFFICIALS.  259 

Lawrence,  and  the  Earl  of  Mayo  had  been  before,  paid 
another  visit  subsequently  to  Keshub's  ancestral  home 
at  Colutolah,  where  he  introduced  to  His  Excellency 
his  principal  relatives  and  friends.  This  was  the 
greatest  honour  which  the  Government  could  confer  on 
any  subject,  and,  in  the  tension  of  public  feeling  against 
Keshub,  it  naturally  gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  private 
jealousy.  The  history  of  Keshub's  intimate  relations  with 
the  Government  of  India,  which  gave  him  distinction,  not 
always  pleasant  in  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries  and 
rivals,  began  with  Lord  John  Lawrence.  Never  did  Ke- 
shub attempt,  or  aspire  after  such  honour.  But  it  came 
to  him  unsought,  and  in  a  striking  manner.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  widespread  admiration  excited 
among  the  Christian  community  by  his  lecture  on 
Jesus  Christ,  the  introduction  it  gave  him  to  the 
Viceroy  in  1867,  the  subsequent  invitation  to  Simla, 
and  the  close  intercourse  between  himself  and  the 
Government  officials  consequent  on  the  affairs  of  the 
Brahmo  Marriage  Bill.  The  more  the  great  officials 
saw  of  him,  the  more  they  liked  him,  and  the  more 
they  delighted  to  honour  him.  He  was  presented  at 
Government  House  in  the  beginning  of  1868,  thence- 
forward receiving  at  the  hands  of  officials  every  invita- 
tion, and  every  attention  that  the  most  prominent 
citizens  of  Calcutta  could  expect.  He  attended  these 
ceremonies  like  a  child,  in  a  state  of  nervousness 
and  trepidation.  Sometimes  he  had  not  the  outfit 
necessary,  wanting  boots,  or  under  clothing,  cuffs, 
or    buttons,    which    were   provided   by   his   friends  at 


260  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

the   last    moment.     He  stood  shyly  behind  all  the  as- 
sembly that  met  on  such    occasions,    and   the    officials 
had   to   depute   their   secretaries    and    subordinates    to 
hunt  him  out  of  the  crowd  that  they  might  confer  with 
him.      But   he  was   elected  to   stand  on   all  the   great 
committees  publicly  appointed,  and  his  name  was  almost 
invariably   seen   in   every  list   of  eminent   public  char- 
acters.    Lord  Lawrence  strongly   recommended  him   to 
Lord  Mayo,  Lord  Mayo  to  the  other  members  of  Govern- 
ment.    Added  to  all  this  was  the  brilliance  of  his  English 
visit,    and   presentation   before   the    Queen.     Thus   un- 
sought   Keshub    acquired    a   public    distinction   which 
often  caused  him    considerable  fear  and   distress.     Yet 
he   was     exceedingly    thankful    in   his    heart    for    the 
honours  thus  thrust  upon  him,    and   used    them   to   the 
utmost    advantage   of  his    spiritual   improvement,   and 
the   influence    of  his    Church.     In  the  company  of  the 
humble    and     poor,    which   he    always    and    earnestly 
sought,    he   realized   the    strange    contrasts    of  human 
life,    and  found    that  reconciliation  of  extremes,  which 
was  the  deep   enjoyment  of  his  life.      When   he   was 
among  the  rich  and  great,   his  bearing  was  so  dignified 
and   natural,    that   men    wondered    how  he  could   find 
pleasure  in   the   company  of  the  poor  and  uneducated 
men  who  generally  surrounded  him.     And  when  he  was 
walking   barefooted   with   the  vulgarest   crowds   of  the 
bazars,  men  wondered  what  he  could  want  in  the  brilliant 
drawing-rooms  of  the  Viceroys  and  the  Maharajahs. 

From   what  has  been  said  of  the  Bharat  Asram  Libel 
case,    and   various   other   calumnies  spread    about  this 


THE  ELEMENTS   OF  FUTURE   SECESSION.  261 

time,   it  will  be  abundantly  clear  that  in  the  very  bosom 
of  the  community  of  which  Keshub  was  the  recognized 
leader,  there  was  slowly  springing  up  a  nucleus  of  men 
who    differed    very    deeply    from     him    in    views    and 
principles,    and    wished    to    see   the     downfall    of    his 
influence  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     The   first   doctrine   to 
which  they  specially  objected  was    the    reverence   and 
faith    which  Keshub    taught   must    be  accorded  to  the 
Great  Men  of  the  world,  the  prophets  and  elder  brothers 
of  mankind,  who  came   to  establish  their   several  ideals 
of  spirituality.     Since  Keshub's  lecture    on  Great  Men 
in  1867,  this  doctrine  was   making   steady  progress    in 
the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  and  the  more  it  developed 
the  more  it   led   to  the   suspicion   in   some   minds  that 
Keshub's  teaching  of  such  things  meant  the  encourage- 
ment of  man-worship  in   general,  and  his  own  worship 
in   particular.     In  spite   of  all   the   contradictions  and 
explanations  given   six  years   ago,   at  the  time  of  the 
revival  at  Monghyr,  there  was  always  a  lurking  distrust 
in  the  minds   of  a  number  of  Keshub's    followers,  that 
the    main    motive    of    his     activities    was    the    estab- 
lishment of  his   own   autocracy.     Then    in    the    second 
place    Keshub's   teaching   on  Special  Providence   was 
also  strongly   objected  to.     It   seemed   unreasonable   to 
some  men  that  God  should  be  capable  of  being  specially 
gracious  on  special  occasions  of  life,  and   supplying  the 
needs   of  His    servants    when  in   danger  and    difficulty 
they  prayed  unto  Him.     When   in   addition  to   all  this, 
the  doctrine  of  Inspiration  was  taught,  namely,  that  the 
Holy    Spirit  breathed  His   impulses   into   the  souls  of 


2  62  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

faithful  devotees,  and  directly  commanded  and  guided 
them  on  all  important  emergencies  of  life,  the  ration- 
alistic instincts    of  a    section   of   men   in   the   Brahmo 
Somaj  were   too  greatly  shocked.     In   the   third  place 
they    protested    against    some    of  Keshub's    ideas   on 
Social    Reform.      They   complained   he   did   not   give 
sufficient  emphasis  to  the  emancipation  of  woman.     A 
controversy    arose    about    this    time    in    the    Brahma 
Mandir   as  to  whether  the  ladies    should  be  seated  in  a 
reserved  covered   gallery,  or  promiscuously  among  the 
male  congregation.     And  so  warm  did  the  controversy 
become,    that    it    very     nearly   resulted    in    a   rupture 
among  the  progressive    members  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
of  India.      These   signs    of  disagreement   first  showed 
themselves  in  1872,  but  in  two  years  became  still  more 
marked.     The   opponents    of  Keshub's    influence,    who 
are  now  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Sadharan 
Somaj,  started  a  magazine  called  Samadarslii  (Impartial 
Observer)    embodying   these   views,  about   1874.     They 
also  tried  to  start  a  rival  congregation.     But  Keshub's 
genius  was   still   so  paramount  that   such  efforts  failed. 
They,    however,    felt    deeper    and    deeper    distrust    of 
Keshub's  ideas  and  motives.     They  gradually  ceased  to 
attend  the  services  of  the  Brahma  Mandir.     At  some  of 
the  congregational  meetings  they  indulged  in  long  and 
painful  disputes  tending  to  question  Keshub's  authority, 
and  the  justice  of  his  measures.     The  personal    demea- 
nour,  the   devotional   exercises,   the  private  self-denials 
of   Keshub   and   his  intimate   friends    were    repeatedly 
criticized,    and   characterized    as    sectarian,    unnatural, 


keshub' s  attitude  as  a  reformer.         263 

mischievous.  The  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  the  Ministry  of  the  Brahma 
Mandir  (vested  in  Keshub  from  the  foundation),  the 
organization  and  operations  of  the  Brahmo  Mission  were 
also  severely  criticized,  and  construed  into  grounds  upon 
which  a  hostile  movement  might  be  reared  up.  Keshub 
regarded  these  symptoms  with  concern,  sometimes  he 
was  pained  beyond  measure.  But  he  did  not  at  the 
time  believe  it  was  possible  for  his  critics  to  establish 
a  counter-organization.  It  cannot  be  said  he  had  much 
respect  for  their  powers,  or  much  sympathy  with  their 
aspirations.  He  looked  upon  them  as  a  body  of 
secularists  who  ought  to  be  repressed.  He  looked  upon 
their  whole  activity  as  a  rationalistic  reaction,  necessari- 
ly provoked  by  the  puritanic  and  apostolical  character 
of  his  own  movement.  He  earnestly  hoped  that  when 
his  great  principles,  revealed,  as  he  was  convinced,  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  developed,  and  permeated  the  land, 
all  such  rationalism  would  be  absorbed  therein,  and 
the  hostility  of  his  antagonists  would  be  a  fresh  cause 
of  strength  and  triumph  to  his  own  Church.  Keshub 
was  intensely  conscious  that  Providence  was  working 
out  a  marvellous  destiny  for  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  He 
was  conscious  of  continued  revelations  coming.  He 
felt  and  awakened  great  impulses.  He  fully  expected 
a  great  re-awakening.  But  up  to  now  he  said  very  little 
on  these  points.  He  thought  the  time  had  not  yet 
come  for  it. 

Keshub  as  a  reformer  meant  simply  to  work  out  his 
instincts   as   a  spiritual   leader  of    men.     The  various 


264  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

measures  of  social  change  and  improvement  which  he 
introduced  were  but  the  emphasized  utterances  of  his 
determination  to  serve  God  and  man.  He  was  never  led 
away  by  the  common-place  slip-shod  ideas  of  the  day 
about  the  abolition  of  caste,  or  the  emancipation  of 
woman.  He  looked  upon  these  as  feeble  intellectual 
fashions  which  the  passing  influence  of  European  civili- 
zation generated  in  immature  minds,  and  which  the 
healthy  progress  of  national  character  would  soon  out- 
grow. What  he  felt  practically  indispensable  for  the 
moral  and  social  welfare  of  his  brethren,  and  for  the 
enlightenment  of  the  other  sex,  for  the  better  organiza- 
tion and  lasting  progress  of  the  Society  over  which  he 
presided,  and  the  Hindu  community  in  general,  that 
he  did,  cautiously  at  first,  but  steadily,  always  allowing 
time  and  experience  to  shape  his  course.  He  equally 
avoided  social  stagnation  and  social  radicalism.  The 
more  he  gained  in  age,  observation,  and  wisdom  the 
stronger  became  his  conviction  that  the  course  of  reform 
must  progress  in  strict  obedience  to  social  law  and 
moral  order,  conserving  everything  that  is  good  and 
precious  in  the  community  around.  He  never  meant  to 
seal  the  stamp  of  finality  on  any  one  of  his  reforms,  he 
always  intended  they  should  retain  their  character  of 
progressiveness,  and  grow  with  the  spirit  of  the  times. 
His  social  ideals  were  not  taken  from  Christian  and 
European  usages.  He  never  failed  to  respect  these,  and 
learn  from  them.  Perhaps  unconsciously  they  largely 
modified  his  principles  and  conduct,  but  instinctively 
and  deliberately  he    was    a    Hindu,     and    a     sense   of 


KESHUB'S   ATTITUDE   AS   A  REFORMER.  265 

nationality,  sometimes  bordering  upon  intolerance, 
characterized  his  private  life,  and  public  measures. 
He  was  a  Hindu  reformer  in  every  sense.  He  was 
chivalrous  in  the  honour  he  accorded  to  woman,  but 
he  could  never  tolerate  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  an 
artificial,  conventional,  strong-mannered,  or  strong- 
minded  womanhood.  He  would  rather  err  on  the  side 
of  over-cautiousness  than  laxity  in  every  measure  of 
female  reform.  He  had  a  photograph  of  his  wife  taken 
as  seated  by  his  side  on  the  Himalayas,  he  squatting 
on  a  tiger-skin  as  a  Yogi,  with  the  ektarci  in  his  hand, 
she  helping  him  in  his  devotions.  He  had  her 
represented  as  a  primitive  Aryan  devotee,  with  wild 
flowers  in  her  hair,  busy  making  preparations  for 
ceremonial  worship.  All  this  indicated  his  ideal  of 
Hindu  womanhood.  His  tender  reverence  for  the  other 
sex  is  fully  illustrated  in  his  ideas  of  the  Motherhood 
of  God.*  Yet  he  was  strongly  against  the  University 
education  of  women.  It  shocked  that  very  reverence. 
He  protested  against  women  being  taught  as  men. 
He  believed  woman  should  be  educated  according  to 
the  bent  of  her  nature.  She  should  have  an  artistic, 
poetic  education  with  a  practical  training  in  domestic 
duties,  elementary  science,  and  the  laws  of  sanitation. 
He  was  against  classical  and  mathematical  women 
entirely.  He  repudiated  the  popular  custom  of  the 
seclusion  of  women.  But  he  believed  in  the  retire- 
ment of  woman  ;  he  was  fond  of  saying  there  was  a 
mysterious  zenana  in   the    manifestation   of  the   inner 

*  See  Chapter  on  the  New  Dispensation,  its  Purposes  etc. 
34 


266  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

glories  of  the  nature  of  God.  Against  courtships, 
flirtations,  frivolities,  and  forwardness  in  woman  he 
was  exceedingly  stern.  He  was  certainly  not  against 
the  marriages  of  child  widows,  but  he  always  dis- 
couraged second  marriages  in  men  and  women  alike. 
He  believed  the  marriage  tie  to  be  inviolable  and 
eternal.  He  was  very  strong  against  infant  marriages, 
but  he  was  in  favour  of  early  betrothals,  and  he  never 
liked  late  marriages  in  women.  Though  himself  the 
first  to  bring  about  intermarriage  among  the  castes  in 
his  country,  he  was  always  for  marrying  people  within 
their  own  caste,  whenever  that  was  possible  to  arrange. 
He  never  directly  persuaded  his  followers  to  give  up 
their  caste,  he  never  made  caste-breaking  the  test  or 
rule  of  his  religion.  But  so  effectually  did  he  inculcate 
and  practise  the  principles  of  mutual  love,  so  steadily 
did  he  attempt  the  establishment  of  human  fraternity, 
the  true  household  of  God,  that  men  were  constrained 
by  their  conscience  to  abjure  the  unbrotherly  distinc- 
tions of  orthodox  Hinduism,  and  caste  fell  dead  in 
the  Brahmo  Somaj  self-condemned.  As  a  reformer  of 
caste,  of  woman,  of  intemperance,  of  marriag*e  customs, 
as  a  social  re-constructor,  and  an  educationist,  his  repu- 
tation was  great,  but  when  we  take  into  account  the 
spiritual  fervour,  the  apostolical  purity,  the  national 
spirit  that  inspired  those  reforms,  we  find  in  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  a  leader  of  the  old  patriarchical  order, 
Hebrew,  or  Aryan,  a  man  exerting  to  establish  the 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  and  the  majesty  of  God, 
under  impulses  before  which  society  bent  itself  in  plastic 
submission  and  reverent  obedience. 


267 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SPIRITUALITIES  AND  CLASSIFICATIONS. 
Keshub  as  a  Devotee  and  Householder,  1875-1878. 

r  ROM  1875  to  1878  Keshub  was  almost  exclusively 
*    engaged  in  giving  a  closer  organization  to  the  religion 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.     The  various  reforms  to  which 
allusion   has   been   made,    and   the  incessant   work   in 
connection  therewith,  had  somewhat  cooled  down  the 
fervour  of  pious  enthusiasm   in  the  immediate  circle  of 
Keshub's  followers.     Unperceived  by  others,   this  was 
at   once   perceived  by  him.     Ever    since  he  had  com- 
menced his  independent  career,  ever  since  his  religious 
genius    had   unfolded,   he   had   used   every   duty,    and 
every  labour   as   fuel  to   the   spiritual  fire  that  burned 
ceaselessly  in  the  heart  of  his  movement.     His  reforms 
were    but    the    embodied   impulses  of  a   soul   rapt   in 
communion  with  God.     His  work  was  but  the  worship 
of  his  abundant  activities  of  mind  and   body.     When 
therefore  he  found  that   the  secular  and  human  useful- 
ness of  his  Church  was  interfering  with  its  transcendent 
piety,  he  determined  to   change  his  tactics.     He  often 
complained   that   his  friends    could   not   establish    due 
harmony    between  work    and   devotions.     When   they 
worked  hard,  it  dulled  their  spiritual  sensibilities,   when 
they     cultivated     piety,     their     practical    duties    were 
neglected.     The  repeated  and   various  struggles  which 
Keshub  made  to  secure  this   harmony  would  make  a 


268  T.TFE    OF   KESHUB   CIIUXDER    SEN. 

unique  history  of    spiritual  progress,   and  furnish   the 
key  to  his  manifold   activities  and   developments.     By 
constant  vigilance   and  minute  criticism  of  everything, 
he  tried  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  a  perfect  church 
organization.     Circumstances,  however,  sometimes  put 
the  tendencies  of  the  disciples  beyond  his  control,  and 
then  he  had  to   do   something   very  extraordinary,   and 
develop    a  special   order   cf  culture.     Such  a   time,  he 
thought,  had  now  come.     "  The  leader  observed   symp- 
toms  of  approaching   worldliness  creep   into  the  move- 
ment,5'   he  wrote  in  the   "  Indian    Mirror '     about   this 
time.     "  Higher  planes  of    spiritual   and  moral   excel- 
lence had  to  be    attained."     The  fact  is   that  for  some 
years  past  there  had  grown  in  the  midst  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj     a     development     of    thought     and     discipline 
somewhat  foreign  to  the  history  of  that  movement.     It 
was   very   much   more   than    the   colourless    culture   of 
natural  Theism,   it  was  far  removed  from  the  category 
of   harmless   abstractions    fostered   by   a   metaphysical 
eclecticism.     In   conformity   to   Keshub's   original  pro- 
fession of  finding  "  a  Religion  of  Life,"  he  had  gradually 
introduced   certain    rigid    forms    and    classifications   of 
religious   conduct    which   tended   to    the  segregation  of 
the  community  into  devotees  and  ordinary  worshippers. 
This  change  began  to  manifest  itself  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1875.     While  Keshub's    various   institutions 
flourished    around   him,    and   his    reforms    bore    ample 
fruit,  while  as  leader  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  honour   was 
lavished   upon    him  both   by  the   European  and  Hindu 
communities  alike,  so  that  his    highest  ambition   might 


THE   VAIRAGYA  MOVEMENT.  269 

be  satisfied,  all  on  a  sudden,  about  the  middle  of  1875, 
he  reverted  to  his  old  melancholy.  His  prayers  became 
sorrowful  and  despondent,  he  grew  taciturn,  impene- 
trable, and  at  last  began  to  undergo  the  severe  fatigue 
of  cooking  his  own  meals.  Sometimes  he  would  sit  on 
a  bare  wooden  stool  for  the  whole  day,  talking  very 
little,  mending  some  of  his  old  clothes.  The  family 
was  concerned,  and  the  immediate  disciples  felt  some 
g'reat  change  was  at  hand.  The  evening  conversations, 
when  the  chief  followers  gathered  around  him,  formed 
the  medium  through  which  he  explained  his  deepest 
views  on  every  subject,  and  he  gave  us  to  understand 
that  he  was  much  mortified  at  the  symptoms  of  worldli- 
ness  and  self-indulgence  which  the  community  pre- 
sented. He  felt  the  time  had  come  for  himself  and  the 
Brahmo  missionaries  to  practice  asceticism,  and  accept 
strict  discipline  for  the  sake  of  purity  and  spiritual  life. 
He  expressed  a  wish  that  the  cooking  of  meals,  which 
he  had  undertaken,  should  be  adopted  as  the  first 
instalment  of  such  discipline  by  them  all.  One  pre- 
disposing cause  to  such  renewed  self-examination  and 
austerity  was  the  lawsuit  forced  upon  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  under  the  name  of  the  Bharat  Asram  Libel  case 
referred  to  before.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  whole 
Brahmo  community  sided  with  Keshub,  nay  a  large 
number  of  them,  in  fact  a  good  many  of  the  present 
leaders  of  the  Sadharan  Somaj,  were  bitterly  hostile 
to  him.  And  though  the  libellers  had  to  make  public 
apology  in  the  High  Court  for  their  misconduct,  thus 
evidencing   the   righteousness    of  the   prosecution,    the 


270  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

trouble  and  anxiety  deeply  affected  Keshub  and  his  com- 
panions. He  felt  that  an  intenser  course  of  spiritual  life 
was  necessary  for  the  community.  The  cry  for  Vairagya, 
renunciation,  detachment  from  worldliness  of  every 
kind,  thus  arose.  The  Minister  denounced  the  tenden- 
cies of  his  flock,  and  showed  the  example  in  his  own  life 
by  adopting  rigid  self-discipline.  Strict  poverty  was 
enjoined  on  the  Missionaries,  long  hours  were  spent  in 
devotions,  every  one  had  to  cook  his  simple  meal  at  least 
once  a  day,  midnight  vigils  were  begun  to  be  kept,  and 
the  agitation  consequent  on  all  this  was  somewhat 
needlessly  aggravated  by  newspaper  articles  and  con- 
troversies. Keshub  gave  explanations  when  they  were 
sought  in  good  spirit,  but  no  amount  of  clamour 
availed  to  dissuade  him  from  the  disciplines  and  new 
orders  of  piety  which  he  introduced.  Month  after  month 
the  pious  exercises  took  definite  character,  and  formu- 
lated themselves.  The  very  next  year  showed  this 
development  in  the  form  of  a  classification  of  Brahmo 
devotees.     It  began  thus. 

The  movement  of  Vairagya,  or  asceticism,  held  up  to 
great  prominence  at  the  time,  marked  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era.  The  fact  is  the  whole  system  of  Keshub' s 
teaching  and  personal  character  had  fostered  an  intense 
type  of  faith  and  doctrine  exceedingly  different  from 
the  free  and  easy  standards  of  antecedent  Brahmoism. 
From  the  moment  he  had  entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj, 
he  had  taken  the  vow  of  finding  in  it  "  a  Religion  of 
Life,"  as  opposed  to  the  religion  of  theories.  Every 
principle   that   he    developed,     every    reform    that     he 


THE   CLASSIFICATION   OF   DEVOTEES.  27  I 

undertook,  was  the  result  of  that  vow.  And  now  more 
than  ever  he  resolved  to  be  true  to  it.  The  whole 
period  of  1876  witnessed  an  unceasing  development 
in  this  direction.  He  and  his  followers  had  formed 
special  relations  to  Christianity,  and  to  the  popular  reli- 
gions of  India,  such  as  VaishnaVism — relations  which 
their  trials,  sorrows,  and  circumstances  rendered 
inevitable.  Thus  wThen  they  were  expelled  from  the 
parent  Somaj  at  Jorasanko,  when  their  helplessness, 
poverty,  sense  of  sin,  and  mutual  differences  reached 
the  point  of  a  crisis,  they  were  led  by  inner  and  in- 
voluntary impulses  to  embrace  the  consolations  of 
Christ's  life  and  death.  When  they  were  cold,  lifeless, 
desponding,  they  naturally  had  recourse  to  the  enthusi- 
asm and  excitement  of  the  Vaishnava  culture  of 
Bhakti,  or  love  of  God,  singing,  violently  dancing, 
and  making  up  street  processions,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  the  Theistic  respectability  that  surrounded  them. 
Year  after  year,  one  might  almost  say  month  after 
month,  Keshub  was  importing  increased  measures  of 
belief  and  discipline  from  the  untheistic  orthodoxies 
and  popular  standards  found  among  Hindus,  Maho- 
medans,  and  Christians.  And  his  consequent  deviations 
from  the  known  rules  and  ideals  of  so-called  Rrahmoism 
became  marked  and  unmistakable.  Babu  Devendra 
Nath  Tagore  and  his  party  resented  such  departures, 
and  protested  against  them  most  strongly.  The  gulf 
between  his  Somaj  and  Keshub's  had  widened  continu- 
ally, and  now  became  impassable.  Nay  it  was  not 
only  the   elder  party  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  but  a  good 


272  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

number  of  young  men  also,  those  mostly  who  have  now 
incorporated  themselves  into  the  Sadharan  Brahmo 
Somaj,  showed  impatience  at  what  they  viewed  as 
autocratic  innovations.  Keshub  had  in  short  set  up 
his  own  standards  of  Brahmic  life  and  doctrine,  and 
these  began  to  be  recognized  by  the  world.  To  such 
standards  he  gave  an  unprecedented  significance  when 
in  the  year  1876,  he  initiated  the  fourfold  classification 
of  devotees  into  the  disciples  of  Yoga  BhakH,  Gyan, 
and  Sheba* 

For  ten  years  systematically,  from  1866  when  he 
separated  from  the  Adi  Brahmo  Somaj,  he  had 
attempted  the  formation  of  a  rigid  well-defined  faith, 
out  of  the  indefinite  generalities  of  Vedantic  Theism, 
He  had  proceeded  step  by  step  in  this  course  of  deve^ 
lopment,  he  had  carried  the  whole  Brahmo  Somaj  with 
him,  there  were  but  comparatively  few  unimportant 
exceptions,  and  now  he  consolidated  his  progress  by 
creating  strongly  marked  orders  of  devotees  represents 
ing  his  ideas  in  a  most  concrete  form.  In  the  next 
year  1877,  he  introduced  another  classification  by  which 
he  assigned  the  study  of  the  four  great  religions  of  the 
world  to  four  disciples,  to  one  Hinduism,  to  another 
Christianity,  to  the  third  Mahomedanism,  and  to  the 
fourth  Buddhism.  Some  intelligent  and  sympathizing 
friends,  both  in  this  country  and  England,  took  alarm 

*  Yoga  is  union  with  God  by  intense  contemplation  and  introspection  ; 
Bhdkti  is  union  with  God  by  intense  love  ;  Cyan  is  union  with  God  by  deep 
knowledge ;  and  Sheba  is  the  same  union  by  service  tendered  unto 
fellowmen, 


THE   "GARDEN  FOR   SPIRITUAL   CULTURE."         273 

at  these  distinctions,  and  pointed  out  the  danger  that 
such  developments  had  the  tendency  to  lead  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  from  the  main  channels  of  the  world's 
religious  thought  into  side  streams  of  special  culture, 
which  in  the  end  might  cause  permanent  division  in  the 
community.  But  Keshub  justified  the  classifications 
on  the  ground  that  moral  exigencies  of  the  Church 
demanded  definite  disciplines  which  would  cease  as 
soon  as  the  necessities  were  supplied.  However  there 
could  be  no  denial  of  the  fact  that  the  experiences,  strug- 
gles, and  unpopularities  which  these  discussions  and 
ascetic  practices  brought,  gave  a  disposition  to  Keshub's 
movement  which  might  assume  unexpected  forms  any 
day  if  the  necessity  arose  for  them.  In  Keshub's 
anniversary  oration  of  1876  he  speaks  thus  towards 
the  conclusion.  "  Who  would  stumble  midway  in  his 
God-ward  course  with  the  huge  mill-stone  of  lifeless 
dogmas  hanging  round  his  neck  ?  Now  I  tell  you 
plainly  we  do  not  mean  to  stand  where  we  are.  . .  .what 
the  Lord  will  reveal  to  us  ten  years  hence  who  knows 
save  He  ?  We  thank  Him  for  the  revelations  already 
vouchsafed  to  us,  but  more  He  will  yet  reveal." 

Within  a  few  months  of  the  anniversary  discourse, 
Keshub  bought  a  small  garden,  for  which  he  had  been 
negociating,  about  twelve  miles  from  Calcutta.  This 
he  called  Sddhan  Kdnany  ci  the  garden  for  spiritual 
culture."  Here  he  often  retired,  followed  by  most  of 
the  Brahmo  missionaries,  and  laid  down  for  himself 
and  others  a  rigidly  monastic  life.  The  greater  part  of 
the  day  he  spent  in  devotions,  readings,  meditations, 
35 


274  LIFE   0F   KESIIUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

and  conversations  on  the  most  esoteric  subjects.  The 
children  were  taught  to  recite  Sanskrit  texts,  and  the 
ladies,  who  were  sometimes  present,  sat  under  the 
shadow  of  the  trees  singing  hymns.  Altogether  the 
pursuits  were  most  arcadian,  profitable,  and  enjoyable. 
When  they  had  a  little  time  they  drew  water,  hewed 
wood,  made  roads,  and  grew  vegetables. 

In    the    Indian    Mirror   of    the   time    the   following 
paragraph  appeared  : — 

"  Babu   Keshub    Chunder    Sen  and  the  disciples  who 
live  with  him  in  the  little  garden    (SadJian   Kanan)    he 
has   recently  purchased,    live  in  a    perfectly   primitive 
style.     They  all  sit  under  the   trees    for   their   morning 
devotions    which    continue   for   seldom    less   than   two 
hours    and   half,    squatting   on   grass    mats,    pieces    of 
rough  woollen  stuff,  and  tiger  skins.     Then  they  begin 
to  cook  their  food  which  they  finish  eating  by  noonday 
time.     Resting  for  half  an  hour,  they   engage  in  reli- 
gious conversation  which  lasts  for  an  hour.     Then  some 
of  them  do  a  little  work,  writing,   reading,   and  other- 
wise   employing    themselves.     In    the    afternoon   they 
draw  water,  cut  bamboos,  make  roads,  and  pave  them, 
plant,    remove,    and  water  trees,  construct  their  cabins, 
cleanse  out  various  places,  and  are  seen    to   work   dili- 
gently in  the  hot  sun,  some  with  pieces  of  wet  cloth  on 
their  heads,  some  bare-headed.     "Working  till  six  they 
rest  for  half  an  hour  again,  and  then  retire  for  solitary 
devotions.     When   the    evening   is    advanced,    say    by 
half-past  seven,  they  sing  Sankirtun  hymns,  and  issue 
out  in  a  procession  chanting  through  the  jungle-skirted 


THE  ALBERT  HALL   AND   INSTITUTE.  275 

village  lanes,  and  usually  enter  a  poor  man's  hut,  there 
singing   and   praying   for  the  benefit  of  the  household. 
Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  finds  time  amidst  all  these 
occupations  to  conduct  his  correspondence  with  Govern- 
ment officers  and  other  big  people,  to  arrange  and  take 
energetic     measures   for   the   progress   and   success   of 
the  Albert  Hall  scheme,    and   contribute   to  the   news- 
papers.     How   long   the   present   method   of  life   will 
continue   we  can  not  say,  but   so  long  as  it  lasts  it  is 
interesting  and  instructive."     It  is  significant  to  note 
that  the  publication  of  this  paragraph  caused  Keshub 
not  a  little  concern,  lest  the  description  of  these  primi- 
tive methods  of  religious  life  should  shock  the  tastes  of 
the   Brahmo    Somaj    community,    and   prejudice   them 
against  apostolic  ideas  which   he  wanted  to  introduce 
gradually.    He  even  went  the  length  of  partially  contra- 
dicting and  explaining  the  statements  made  above  with 
a  view  to  prove  that  he  and  his  disciples  did  nothing 
singular,  or  worthy  of  special  praise.     How  different 
was  this  cautiousness  from  the  perfect  defiance   of  pub- 
lic opinion   that  characterized  him   only  three  or  four 
years  later  in  emphasizing  the  developments  of  the  New 
Dispensation  !  But  then   Keshub  claimed  that  during 
the  latter  period  his  relations  with  himself,  and  with 
the  public  had  completely  changed. 

It  is  significant  also  of  Keshub's  many-sided  character 
that  amidst  his  rigorous  self-disciplines  as  a  devotee, 
while  he  lived  with  a  shaven  head  in  retirement,  in  the 
Sadhan  Kanan,  he  was  most  earnest  in  his  endeavours 
to   found   a   public    hall   in   the  heart   of   the    Native 


276  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN. 

quarters  of  Calcutta  for  u  the  promotion  of  literary 
and  social  intercourse  among  all  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity." An  association  styled  the  Albert  Institute  was 
formed  in  April  1876  to  carry  out  this  object.  The 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal  Sir  R.  Temple  was 
persuaded  to  be  its  patron,  there  was  a  president,  a 
vice  president,  a  secretary,  and  a  committee  of  sixteen 
members.  It  was  resolved  there  should  be  a  public 
hall  in  connection  with  the  Institute,  to  be  called  the 
Albert  Hall,  for  the  following  purposes  : — (1)  Library 
and  newspaper  reading,  (2)  Lectures  and  debates, 
(3)  Soirees  and  musical  entertainments,  (4)  Public 
meetings.  Keshub  in  his  missionary  tours  through  the 
land  had  formed  the  acquaintance  of  some  wealthy 
Native  princes  upon  whom  he  prevailed  to  contribute 
liberally  towards  the  hall.  By  the  power  of  his  reputa- 
tion money  poured  in  from  every  direction.  The  Albert 
Hall  cost  nearly  Rs.  30,000  of  which  Keshub's  friend 
the  Maharajah  Holkar  of  Indore  gave  Rs.  8,000.  The 
Government  of  Bengal  showed  its  appreciation  of  the 
scheme  by  contributing  Rs.  5,000.  Altogether  the 
high  patriotic  object  of  the  Albert  Hall  was  successful, 
and  at  the  present  moment  it  forms  the  rallying  ground 
of  all  sections  of  the  community  of  Calcutta  for  pur- 
poses of  religious,  social,  or  intellectual  improvement. 
It  forms  a  fitting  memorial  to  the  catholic  genius  and 
character  of  its  great  founder. 

The  first  development  of  Keshub's  character  as  a 
devotee  took  place  in  1867  when  he  began  his  in- 
dependent career.     The  period  we  are  now  dealing  with 


keshub's  ideal  of  piety.  277 

relates  to  the  maturity  of  his  devotions  and  disciplines, 
leading  up  to  the  first  and  final  stages  of  the  New  Dis- 
pensation. Keshub's  ideal  of  piety  now  became  an 
intoxication  and  madness  in  God.  His  ideal  of  a  true 
devotee's  character,  says  he  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
the  Jeevan  Ved,  was  threefold,  the  child,  the  madman, 
and  the  inebriate.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  calling 
God  by  the  name  of  Father,  he  not  only  adopted  the 
idea  of  Divine  motherhood,  but  made  that  the  burden 
of  his  devotional  exercises.  He  not  only  sang,  but 
joined  those  who  danced  in  their  enthusiasm  of  singing 
the  name  of  God  ;  a  little  later  on  he  laughed  and 
cried  in  the  ecstacy  of  his  devotions  ;  he  behaved  as 
one  under  extreme  excitement.  He  refused  to  allow 
to  his  reasoning  powers  any  authority  to  control  his 
devotional  fervour.  He  seldom  hesitated  to  express 
the  greatest  contempt  for  the  intellect  in  regulating 
the  relations  between  the  devotee  and  his  God. 
Reason,  he  said,  was  out  of  court  here  ;  it  was  entirely 
the  province  of  faith  and  love,  and  he  willingly  sub- 
mitted himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the  impulses  of 
this  love.  All  the  excesses  of  oriental  piety,  whether 
found  in  Palestine  or  Persia,  Egypt  or  India,  gradually 
found  their  embodiment  in  him.  Men  began  to  laugh 
at  him,  but  he  laughed  at  them,  and  said  they  did  not 
know  what  they  criticised.  Such  manifestations  were 
contrary  to  his  former  nature,  but  he  steadily  grew 
into  them.  Up  to  his  last  day,  however,  Keshub  retain- 
ed immense  powers  of  equilibrium  in  his  nature.  If 
his  devotions  were  excessive,  his   meditative  wisdom, 


278  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  marvellous  force  of  his  will,  his  intellectual  balance, 
his  habit  of  mental  concentration  were  also  enormous, 
lie  cultivated  every  kind  of  spiritual  virtue  with  un- 
abated persistency.  "  When  the  love  of  God,"  says  he 
"  grew  within  me  into  a  rapture,  I  felt  that  to  give  my 
feelings  due  steadiness,  Yoga  (communion  with  God  by 
mental  concentration)  was  necessary.  This  excitement 
of  the  devotional  sentiment  might  be  merely  temporary, 
I  must  seek  the  means  to  give  it  permanence.  Bhakti 
sweetens  Yoga,  but  Yoga  converts  Bhakti  into  pure 
reverence.  Perhaps  Bhakti  might  have  led  me  to 
superstition,  perhaps  Yoga  might  have  led  me  to 
pantheism.  But  by  the  combination  of  the  two  the 
gardens  of  Divine  love  grew  upon  the  mountains  of 
communion  }'*  Thus  within  a  comparatively  short  time 
Keshub's  devotions  consolidated  into  transcendental 
insight.  He  acquired  a  prophetic  vision  into  the 
hidden  things  both  of  Hindu  and  Christian  theology. 
He  recast  and  re-interpreted  the  conceptions  of  the 
Vedic  and  Puranic  religion.  He  dissolved  the  gods 
and  godesses  of  his  people  in  spiritual  analysis,  and 
refilled  the  Hindu  pantheon  with  immortal  ideals  of 
wisdom  and  piety.  The  popular  deities  of  the  land 
were  divested  of  their  idolatrous  embodiment,  explained 
in  their  esoteric  meaning,  and  became  sublimated  into 
the  poetry  and  esthetics  of  reformed  Hinduism.  He 
boldly  dealt  with  the  Christian  doctrines  of  the  Logos, 
the  Incarnation,  and  the  Preexistence  of  Christ.  He 
attempted  the  rehabilitation  of  Christianity  in   the  faith 

*  Jeevan  Ved.  chap.  iX. 


THE   CHARACTER   OF   HIS   DEVOTIONS.  279 

and  reverence  of  his  countrymen.  He  went  into  the 
discussion  of  the  most  obscure  questions  of  the  essence 
of  Nature,  and  the  human  spirit.  His  fervid  glowing 
conceptions  found  utterance  in  language,  worship,  and 
symbolism  which  for  a  time  were  misunderstood.  But 
underneath  it  all,  there  was  the  rapt  communion  of  the 
human  and  the  Divine  ;  there  was  the  restoration  of  the 
national  standards  of  piety.  Like  his  whole  character, 
his  devotions  were  most  complex,  every  fibre  of  faith, 
feeling,  culture,  wisdom,  insight  being  woven  together, 
yet  the  complexity  assimilated  itself  so  well  with  his 
nature,  that  the  prayers  and  precepts  that  resulted 
therefrom  were  of  the  simplest  and  most  natural 
description.  The  deepest  philosophy  became  a  child- 
like fervour  of  faith  and  feeling.  Ignorant  men  and 
illiterate  women,  even  little  boys  and  girls  became 
charmed  by  the  mystery  of  his  devotional  utterances. 
These,  when  collected,  will  make  a  mighty  memorial  of 
his  spiritual  genius.  His  best  prayers  are  in  the 
vernacular,  and  they  are  untranslatable  into  any 
foreign  tongue.  They  are  the  artless  accents  of  a 
man  who  empties  his  whole  being  into  the  bosom  of 
a  felt  Infinite,  and  communes  with  the  reality  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  Keshub  laid  down  as  the  distinctive 
feature  of  his  religion  a  direct  and  immediate  inter- 
course with  the  Soul  of  God.  And  his  recorded 
devotions  testify  that  he  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  measure 
that  intercourse.  He  subordinated  every  duty  and 
every  act  of  his  life  to  his  prayers.  For  long  years, 
in  fact  from    1875   to    1883,    the   best   part   of  the   day, 


2  So  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

from  morning  till   noon,   was  spent  in  the  daily  sendee 
of  his  household  sanctuary.     His  intimate  friends   and 
disciples   met   there   at    about   nine,  and  the  devotional 
exercises  were  continued  sometimes  till  one  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.     So  long  as  Keshub  was  in  good  health 
he  every  day  conducted  the  whole    service,   but  latterly 
he  had  not  the  necessary  strength  for  that.     The  sanc- 
tuary  was    the   darling   object    of  his  heart.     He   set 
apart  one  of  the  largest   and  best  rooms  of  his  house 
for  it.     He  adorned  it  in   every   conceivable   way   with 
the  simplicity  and  taste  which  he  possessed  in  such 
abundance.     After    his    morning    ablutions,    he   came 
down  punctually  into  the  garden  to  cut  the  best  flowers 
to  be  placed  near  the  pulpit  at  the   time    of  worship. 
The   first   and   best   fruits  of  the   year   were    laid    out 
there.     Keshub's  scanty  income,  from  whatever  source 
it   came,  was  also   placed  there  for  consecration.     The 
seats  of  the  Brahmo  missionaries  and   other  devotees 
were    arranged   in    a   square    around    the   pulpit,   each 
seat  being  nothing   more   than    a   deer   or   tiger  skin, 
surmounted    by    about    a    square   foot    of  red    woollen 
cloth.    The  musical  appurtenances  of  the  singing  apostle 
were   there,   the   khole,  kartell,  and  ektara  were   there, 
and  also   the   bugle,    which    Keshub   himself  sounded 
so   often   when   he   went  out  with  his  apostles  on  mis- 
sionary expeditions.     Every  visitor  from  foreign   coun- 
tries, who   was  attracted  to  Keshub's  house,  was  shown 
into  the   sanctuary   whence  Keshub  drew  his    inspira- 
tions, and  where  he  laid  down  the  laws  and  institutions 
of  the  New  Dispensation. 


FAITH  IN  PRAYER.  281 

Keshub  had  a  wonderful  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
prayer.  A  dogged  persistency  in  prayerfulness  cha- 
racterized him  at  all  times.  With  him  it  was  an  instinct. 
He  had  never  reasoned  about  it,  never  had  any  doubt 
occurred  to  him,  he  always  clung  to  prayer  with  a  sim- 
ple childlike  tenacity.  He  was  exceedingly  realistic  in 
his  prayers,  seldom  cared  to  indulge  in  art  or  imagina- 
tion, but  prayed  outright  for  every  need  he  felt.  "  The 
first  lesson  of  the  scriptures  of  my  life,"  says  he  "  is 
prayer.  In  the  twilight  of  my  religious  career,  the 
voice  rose  in  my  heart  saying  "  Pray,  always  pray,  there 
is  no  other  way  than  prayer/'  In  those  days  he  had 
neither  the  flow  of  language,  nor  the  power  of  emo- 
tion, but  still  he  prayed  on,  and  tried  to  live  purely. 
Latterly  as  he  gained  in  wisdom  and  matured  in  piety, 
he  discovered  in  prayer  the  inviolable  and  essential 
law  of  spiritual  progress.  He  never  believed  that 
the  nature  of  God  could  be  at  any  time  changed  by 
our  devotions,  the  Divine  was  immutable.  But  he 
held  that  the  law  of  grace,  and  growth  of  religious  life 
demanded  faithful  prayer  on  our  part.  Hearty  prayer 
changes  a  man's  mental  constitution,  and  reveals  all 
things  to  him  from  a  new  point  of  view.  Constant 
prayer  renews  a  man's  life  entirely.  He  gains  new 
wisdom,  new  insight,  fresh  flow  of  heart  and  force  of  will, 
derived  from  a  knowledge  of  the  purposes  and  secrets  of 
God.  The  more  a  man  prays,  the  more  divine  he 
becomes  in  every  relation  of  life.  "  If  I  asked,"  says 
he  "  what  religion  I  should  adopt,  prayer  answered 
the  question.  If  I  wanted  to  know  whether  or  not 
36 


282  LIFE     OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

I  should  give  up  my  worldly  prospects  and  become 
a  missionary,  prayer  brought  me  the  answer.  Prayer 
determined  what  relations  I  should  bear  to  my  wife, 
and  it  was  prayer  that  regulated  my  conduct  in  pecu- 
niary concerns.5''  When  his  friends  quarrelled  among 
themselves,  he  enjoined  upon  them  to  go  and  pray 
together.  When  one  of  his  servants,  a  mere  boy, 
committed  a  theft  in  his  house,  he  knelt  down,  and 
prayed  by  the  side  of  the  culprit.  One  peculiarity  of 
his  prayerfulness  was  that  he  not  only  prayed  but 
wanted  and  waited  for  answer  to  his  supplications. 
In  all  his  devotional  exercises  therefore  the  doctrine 
of  inspiration  and  divine  commandment  actuated  him 
very  deeply.  Whatever  response  he  obtained  in  this 
way  was  always  the  guiding  principle  of  his  life.  This 
he  called  by  the  much  disputed  name  of  Adesh  (divine 
command).  In  the  smallest  matters  of  daily  life, 
whenever  he  was  in  difficulty  he  walked  by  the  light 
of  this  Adesh.  In  every  social  reform  that  he  ever 
undertook,  this  response  to  prayer  was  his  only  guide. 
In  the  management  of  the  Bharat  Asram,  in  every 
important  affair  that  related  to  the  inmates  of  that 
institution,  he  insisted  on  the  command  of  God  being 
sought,  an  idea  which  not  a  few  of  his  friends  secretly 
ridiculed.  When  in  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to 
the  Maharajah  of  Cuch  Behar  he  pleaded  that  he  had 
been  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  give  his  sanction 
to  the  marriage,  his  enemies,  nay  the  whole  world 
grew  furious.  Yet  Keshub  in  this  instance  said  no- 
thing   which   he  had    not   habitually   said   during    the 


PRAYER   AND   DEPENDENCE.  283 

whole  course  of  his  spiritual  life.  In  a  letter  to  Prof. 
Max  Miiller  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  he  reviews  the 
past  thus  : — "  These  twenty-five  years  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  been  to  me  not  only  Teacher  and  Guide,  but  also 
my  Guardian  and  Protector.  He  has  given  me  the  bread 
of  inspiration,  and  to  His  directions  too  I  owe  my  daily 
bread.  I  never  knew  any  guru  or  priest,  but  in  all 
matters  affecting  the  higher  life  I  have  always  sought 
and  found  light  in  the  direct  counsels  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Nor  could  I  ever  count  upon  a  definite  income 
for  my  large  family,  and  yet  through  darkness  and  un- 
certainty the  Holy  Ghost  has  led  me  on,  feeding  me, 
my  wife,  ten  children,  and  even  giving  us  the  comforts 
of  life.  From  how  many  perils,  dangers,  and  tempta- 
tions has  He  delivered  me !  How  many  times  has  He 
shown  me  the  light  of  heaven  !  or  I  would  have  perish- 
ed. To  so  good  a  Spirit  I  look  as  to  a  personal  Friend 
and  daily  Companion,  and  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
never  to  turn  away  from  Him  to  whom  I  owe  all 
that  I  prize  in  my  temporal  and  my  spiritual  life." 
Men  criticized  his  conduct  by  their  own  rules,  and 
when  he  claimed  to  be  judged  by  the  only  rule 
which  had  ever  controlled  his  conduct,  they  set  him 
down  as  a  dissembler  or  a  fool  !  In  the  process  of 
obeying  the  impulse  he  might  now  and  then  err  in  judg- 
ment, or  the  selection  of  means,  but  the  main  motive 
which  actuated  him,  he  fully  believed,  was  God-sent 
and  unerring.  This  principle,  applied  to  the  difficult 
and  involved  circumstances  of  his  life,  might  clear  up 
a  good  deal  that  is  now   misunderstood.     To  Keshub 


284  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

Chunder  Sen  prayer  was  the  only  medium  of  com 
munication  between  God  and  man,  the  only  unfailing 
law  of  light  and  guidance.  His  whole  life  as  a  devotee 
developed  out  of  that.  The  forms  of  his  prayer  were 
utterly  unconventional.  A  perfect  master  of  his  mother- 
tongue  he  poured  forth  his  aspirations  in  a  stream  of 
chaste  pellucid  poetry  to  which  it  was  a  delight  to 
listen.  Now  and  again  he  descended  to  the  homeliest, 
simplest,  most  familiar  vernacular,  far  away  indeed  from 
the  language  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  whose  notions 
of  respectability  and  reverence  were  shocked  thereby, 
but  anon  he  ascended  to  flights  of  expression  and  senti- 
ment which  nothing  in  the  religious  literature  of  any 
country  could  excel.  His  face  assumed  a  strange  beauty 
when  he  was  in  the  rapture  of  devotional  excitement ; 
an  unconscious  smile  played  upon  his  noble  handsome 
features  ;  tall  and  athletic  as  he  was,  his  whole  attitude 
was  erect  and  full  of  light ;  many  among  the  congre- 
gation gazed  upon  his  face  with  wonder.  Strange  to 
relate,  after  the  fierce  agonies  of  his  last  moments,  as 
soon  as  all  was  hushed  in  death,  the  same  wonted 
well-known  smile  returned,  and  lighted  up,  and  glori- 
fied his  countenance  !  The  thousands  that  came  to  pay 
their  last  honours  to  him,  marvelled.  They  kept  his 
sweet  face  uncovered  till  the  funeral  pyre  was  set  fire 
to.  Here  then  was  a  man  who,  upon  the  small  begin- 
nings of  a  simple  spontaneous  prayerfulness,  gradually 
laid  the  structure  of  a  spiritual  life,  the  colossal  propor- 
tions of  which  oversluidowed  the  whole  land.  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  bears  undoubted  testimony  to  the  efficacy 


REALIZATION  OF   GOD's   PRESENCE.  285 

of  prayer,  the  grand  testimony  of  spiritual  heroism, 
and  noble  perfection  achieved  through  the  easy  na- 
tural means  within  everybody's  power,  of  asking  for 
light  and  guidance  from  God. 

Keshub  assiduously  cultivated  the  habit  of  realizing 
the  spirit  of  God  in  everything.  He  grew  into  the 
habit  of  addressing  flowers,  forests,  fire,  water,  every- 
thing that  was  beautiful  or  grand.  All  phenomena 
were  symbolical  to  him.  He  evidently  communed 
with  some  hidden  personality  in  them.  He  spiri- 
tualized woman,  and  acquired  the  idea  of  the  Supreme 
Mother ;  he  spiritualized  children,  and  occasionally 
worshipped  God  as  the  Supreme  Child.  No  devout 
Roman  Catholic  could  be  more  enthusiastic  about 
the  Madonna  and  the  Infant,  than  he  was  about 
womanhood  and  childhood  in  general.  Latterly  he 
began  to  show  a  singular  fondness  of  attachment  to 
his  wife  (contrasted  with  his  indifference  of  the  early 
days  of  their  married  life),  and  it  required  but  a  little 
insight  to  discover  that  his  relations  to  her  were 
intensely  and  exclusively  spiritual.  Now  and  then 
he  showed  a  strange  absorbed  earnestness  in  caressing 
his  infant  children.  Any  one  who  observed  him  at 
those  times  could  not  but  feel  he  was  realizing  a 
personality  in  the  child  other  than  the  child's  own. 
He  would  retire  into  a  bush  at  the  Belgharia  garden, 
sit  under  some  favourite  tree  by  the  hour  on  the  bare 
damp  grass,  keep  talking  as  in  a  trance,  and  then 
rejoin  his  friends  with  a  face  kindling  like  the  evening 
sky.     The  Himalayas  were  his  favourite   resort   when 


286  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

he  could  go  there,  and  while  on  the  hills,  he  perceived 
an  intimate  sense  of  identity  in  himself  with  the  great 
Indian  sages  and  saints  of  the  past.  His  prayers 
became  classical,  rapt,  Vedic.  Those  hills  were  holy 
to  him,  and  he  cherished  their  associations.*  When 
there  for  the  last  time  in  1883,  it  was  a  great  wish  of 
his  heart  to  establish  a  hermitage  on  the  mountains, 
and  spend  there  the  remainder  of  his  days.  But  his 
illness  became  too  serious  for  him  to  be  able  to  carry 
out  this  wish.  Another  favourite  process  of  spiritual 
culture  adopted  by  Keshub  was  his  frequent  communion 
with  the  lives  and  characters  of  prophets  for  whom 
he  always  felt  a  special  affinity.  His  cherished  aim 
was  to  live  to  harmonize  the  characters  of  the  greatest 
prophets  in  his  own  character.  He  had  found  in  his 
ideal  of  Christ  such  a  harmony.  He  had  found  in  his 
Christ-ideal  a  combination  of  the  embodiments  of  the 
deepest  humanity,  such  as  Socrates,  Sakya  Muni, 
Chaitanya,  and  other  true  sons  of  God.  He  always 
showed  himself  to  be  the  sturdy  opponent  of  senti- 
mental reverence    either    to   Christ  or  any  other  great 

*  "These  stupendous  and  lofty  heights,"  he  writes  to  Prof.  Max  Miillcr  in 
1882,  "arc  dear  and  sacred  to  the  Indians,  as  reminders  of  the  glory  of  our 
fatherland,  and  as  0  source  of  living  inspiration  amid  the  grovelling  cares  of 
the  world."  Again  next  year  while  at  Simla  he  writes  "  Alas  !  these  blessed 
Rishis  are  dead  and  gone.  On  the  plains  of  Bengal,  where  I  live,  I  miss 
them  :  I  sec  an  entirely  different  generation,  by  no  means  loyal  to  their  fore- 
fathers. But  I  do  not  miss  them  here.  On  these  hills  the  ancient  Rishis 
seem  yet  to  live  and  move.  I  feel  they  are  with  me,  and  in  me.  Everything 
recalls  these  saintly  spirits  to  my  mind,  and  I  see  before  me  not  the  agnostic's 
1  irth  and  sky,  but  the  ancient  Aryan  devotee's  Surya,  Yayu,  Vuruna, 

nid  Indru." 


VARIOUS   OTHER  PRINCIPLES.  287 

man.  He  definitely  struggled  to  be  what  they  were, 
and  he  always  urged  his  disciples  to  do  the  same. 
With  this  object  he  instituted  the  ceremony  of  what 
he  called  Pilgrimage  to  the  Saints,  which  meant 
nothing  more  than  an  intense  spiritual  effort  to  realize 
in  consciousness  the  leading  principles  of  the  greatest 
teachers  of  mankind.*  Amongst  these,  however,  none 
was  given  the  place  that  belonged  to  Jesus.  His 
chief  utterances  on  the  subject  of  typical  Divine 
Humanity  had  Christ  for  their  burden.  So  far  as 
such  things  admit  of  classification,  Keshub's  tenderest 
relations  after  those  with  Christ  were  with  Chaitanya, 
the  prophet  of  divine  love  in  Bengal.  The  emotional 
development  of  his  religion  was  very  greatly  indebted 
to  this  sweet  character.  It  was  from  the  Vaishnava 
cult  perhaps  he  gathered  his  great  faith  in  the  efficacy 
of  the  utterance  of  the  Divine  Name.  He  felt  little 
scruple  to  adopt  any  name  of  God  found  in  use 
amongst  orthodox  Hindus,  if  he  was  sure  that  would 
serve  the  purpose  of  embodying  a  specific  conception 
of  Divine  nature  or  attribute  such  as  he  wanted  to 
emphasize.  This  not  only  nationalized  the  aspect  of 
his  religion,  but  accentuated  the  spiritual  spmpathy 
which  he  always  felt  very  strongly  with  the  higher 
phases  of  the  Hindu  religion.  When  he  made  such  adop- 
tions, however,  he  invariably  took  care  to  unfasten  them 
from  all  idolatrous  associations.     Thus  the  mystical  im- 

*  The  various  principles  and  developments  here  enumerated  summarily  in 
connection  with  Keshub's  character  as  a  devotee,  have  been  more  fully  dwelt 
upon  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  teachings  of  the  New  Dispensation. 


288  LIFE   OF   KESIIUB   CHUNDER    SEN 

portance  of  the  Name  in  every  system  of  oriental  theo- 
logy was  accepted  and  perpetuated  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
He  composed  what  he  called  "  the  garland  of  a  hundred 
and  eight  names"  in  the  daily  form  of  worship  of  the 
members  of  the  New  Dispensation.  He  had  a  great 
power  to  extemporize  the  names  of  God  according  to 
scenes  and  circumstances.  As  a  necessary  supplement 
to  his  mystical  devotions,  Keshub  latterly  introduced 
and  practised  a  great  many  rituals.  Unreserved  criti- 
cism has  been  lavished  on  these  developments.  How 
far  and  how  long  he  meant  these  ceremonies  to  continue 
in  his  Church  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  but  we  have  his  word 
for  it,  that  he  was  fond  of  the  simplicity  of  worship, 
that  he  was  against  forms  and  rites.  Yet  withal  in 
Keshub's  nature  there  was  a  psychological  neces- 
sity for  the  institution  of  ceremonials.  He  had  the 
unconquerable  prophetic  impulse  to  worship  not  only 
in  mystic  words,  but  in  mystic  performances.  Words 
were  not  enough  for  his  transcendental  devotions  ; 
thoughts  were  not  deep  enough  for  his  faith,  the 
mystery  of  infinite  relations  embodied  themselves  in 
sacramental  acts.  They  were  the  types  of  profound 
ideals.  He  had  a  desire  also  to  address  the  national 
imagination  through  observances  to  which  the  people 
had  an  affinity  by  a  long  series  of  events,  traditions,  times, 
and  circumstances.  He  had  a  missionary  motive  in  these 
things  also.  He  wanted  to  make  Theism  more  intelli- 
gible and  more  acceptable  to  the  great  masses.  He 
celebrated  his  principles  by  solemn  ceremonies  which 
appealed  to  the  emotions  of  the  Hindu  race.  He  had  un- 


CATHOLIC    SYMPATHIES.  289 

doubtedly  a  desire  to  rationalize,  interpret,  and  partially 
to  adopt  the  great  sacraments  of  primitive  Christianity 
and   Vedic  Hinduism,  giving  thus  his  Church  a  catholic 
character.     But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  secondary  pur- 
poses there  was  the  grand  prevailing  purpose  to  fertilize, 
expand,  and  deepen  his  own  religious  nature,  and  that  of 
his   intimate  disciples.     When   his  searching,  praying, 
awe-struck   spirit   had    made    its    pilgrimage   into   the 
eternal  solitudes,  and  beheld  the  marvel  of  its  relations 
to  the  obscure  Infinite,  he  tried  in  various  ways  to  give 
utterance  to  his  swelling  conceptions.     He  gave  vent 
to   absorbed    rhapsodies,    to   doctrines    pregnant   with 
unseen   meaning,   he   was   compelled  to   perform   rites 
and   ceremonies.     Gradually   Keshub    had    become    a 
staunch  opponent  of  abstract   addresses   to  the  Deity. 
He  intensely  sympathized  with  the  warmth  and  imagery 
of  popular  Hindu  worship.     His  simple   devout  nature 
was   stirred  by   the   melodies,    the  flowers,    the  lights, 
the  fragrances,  the  prostrations,  the  joyous  enthusiastic 
singing   of    Hindu   temples.     He   felt   these   were  the 
spontaneous  outgrowths  of  the  national  religious  senti- 
ment.    He  rigidly  discarded  the   idolatry  in   them   all  ; 
he   never   went   to   any   Hindu    temple,    and   far   less 
showed    any   outward    sympathy   with   what   went   on 
there.     But  his  genius  could  instinctively  separate  the 
grossness   from    the    genuineness    of    the    elements    of 
Hindu   devotions,    and   he   freely   and   deeply  drank  of 
the  latter.     His  great  aim  was  to    adopt   every   feature 
of    the    devotional    esthetics    of    orthodox    Hinduism, 
eliminating     therefrom    only    the    polytheistic    errors. 

37 


290  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

A     remarkable     feature    in    Keshub's    character    was 
what,  after  repeated  remonstrances,  he  insisted  upon 
calling    "  asceticism/'      The   melancholy   of  his   early 
life   has  been  described    elsewhere.     In    later    life   he 
was   very    different  ;     loving,    joyful,    beloved   by   all. 
But    often    and    again    the    youthful    melancholy   re- 
appeared,  and   overshadowed  his  motives.     Whenever 
the    approaching   indications   of  worldliness   or  sin  in 
his  Church  left  him  in  mental  solitude,  he  took  shelter 
under  the  stern  austerities  of  his  nature.     He  cultivated 
asceticism,  he  cooked  his  own  meals,  he  dressed   in   the 
mendicant's   garb,   he  lived   upon   voluntary   alms,   he 
shaved  his  head   and  face  ;   he  did  all  this  on  principle, 
as  means  to  certain  ends,   as  disciplines  which  every 
one  ought  on  occasions  to  adopt.     When   the  necessity 
ceased   the   practices  also   ceased,   and  he  reverted  to 
his  ordinary  ways  of  life,  but  none  who   observed   him 
could  fail  to  see  that  though  the  practices  were  sus- 
pended,   the  principle  was  as   active  in  his  character 
as    ever.      A   stoical    self-denying  rigour   formed   the 
backbone  of  Keshub's    genius.     He    enforced   it   upon 
himself,   he  wanted  to   enforce  it  upon  others.     It  was 
a  disposition  which  never  let  go  its  hold  upon  him,  it 
was   a   bias   of  nature   in   him,  it   made   him    so   very 
unlike  other  men,   and   perhaps  contributed  not  a  little 
to    his    occasional    unpopularity.      It    cannot    on    the 
other  hand  be  denied  that  this   primitive   austerity  in 
Keshub's  movement  preserved  its  moral  purity  amidst 
so   many   transitions  and  sore  trials.      The  holiness  of 
his  personal    character   could    not    be  reproached  even 


THE   "LEAVEN"   OF  HIS   INFLUENCE.  291 

by  his  worst  enemies.  He  combined  the  tenderest 
sentimentalities  with  the  highest  moral  purity,  a  com- 
bination so  rare  to  meet  with  in  emotional  India. 
He  sternly  maintained  the  standards  of  traditional 
Hindu  simplicity  in  food  and  dress,  he  always  held 
poverty  to  be  an  essential  trait  in  the  character  of 
a  religious  teacher.  He  held  asceticism  to  be  one  of 
the  highest  and  most  essential  disciplines  for  every 
devotee. 

For  these  and  similar  reasons  Keshub's  character 
as  a  devotee  had  a  most  magnetic  and  reproductive 
effect.  He  leavened  the  whole  community  in  the  midst 
of  which  he  lived.  Undoubtedly  he  influenced  every 
section  of  the  great  surrounding  mass  of  Hindu  society 
more  profoundly  than  any  one  thought  at  the  time. 
Men  latterly  doubted  whether  to  call  him  an  orthodox 
or  heterodox  Hindu.  His  followers  were  known  by  the 
length,  intensity,  and  retirement  of  their  spiritual  exer- 
cises. They  were  known  by  their  vegetarian  diet,  the 
simplicity  of  their  looks,  the  plainness  of  their  dress, 
and  the  puritanic  strictness  of  their  morals.  Keshub 
has  given  a  new  turn  to  modern  Hinduism,  and  brought 
about  a  new  reaction  in  it.  His  prayers  furnished 
the  perennial  fountain  from  which  our  beloved  Singing 
Apostle  drew  his  inspiration  of  new  hymns,  sweet, 
true,  and  deep.  From  those  prayers  numberless 
sermons  and  precepts  have  sprung  which  have  become 
the  household  phraseology  of  Brahmo  families.  Doc- 
trines, festivals,  disciplines,  nay  the  very  idea  of  the 
New  Dispensation  itself,  have  flowed   from   the  master's 


2Q2  LIFE    OF   KESIIUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

devotions,  so  heart-stirring  they  were.  If  he  has  done 
any  service  to  his  disciples,  he  has  taught  them  the 
efficacy  and  sweetness  of  prayer.  The  whole  current 
of  the  devotional  life  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  he  has 
turned  wonderfully.  He  has  published  prayers,  both 
in  English,  and  in  the  vernacular,  which  shall  feed 
many  souls  in  many  generations.  He  has  given  an 
impetus  to  the  publication  of  various  kinds  of  meditative 
and  devotional  literature,  which  has  a  great  and  far- 
reaching  future  before  it.  He  has  raised  a  generation 
of  deep-souled  devotees  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  whose 
apostolic  character  commands  honour  wherever  they 
go.  The  fertility  of  his  movement,  so  long  as  he 
lived,  was  endless.  In  these  times  of  doubt  and 
materialistic  grossness  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  a 
typical  devotee,  protesting  against  the  prayerlessness 
of  the  age  by  his  tender  piety.  May  we  not  hope  that 
the  fires  on  the  altar  which  he  kindled,  will  be  fed  by 
the  aspirations  of  many  ages,  and  that  once  more  the 
modern  Aryans  of  India  shall  be  able  to  inscribe  their 
faith  on  the  annals  of  the  world's  progress  by  the 
intensity  of  their  communion  with  the  eternal  spirit 
of  God  ? 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  a  model  householder.  His 
domestic  life  was  the  example  of  dutifulness,  love,  and 
fidelity.  Not  all  the  asceticism  he  ever  preached  and 
practised,  not  all  the  sacrifices  he  made  of  money  or 
of  health,  not  all  the  long  travels  he  made,  could 
take  away  one  jot  of  the  intense  affection  he  always 
felt  for  his  home  and  family.     Of  the    ten   children,  five 


LOVE  OF  HOME  AND  FAMILY   LIFE.  293 

sons,  and  five  daughters  he  had,  all  have  survived  him, 
and  all,  even  the  youngest,  who  emerged  at  his  depar- 
ture into  the  barest  consciousness  of  his  serene  presence 
in  the  house,  bear  the  same  touching  testimony  of 
Keshub's  fatherly  tenderness.  Yet  he  was  never  de- 
monstrative in  his  affection.  The  same  sweet  reserve 
that  characterised  all  his  other  relations,  prevailed  in 
the  domestic  circle  also.  Nay,  to  the  superficial 
observer  it  might  sometimes  seem  he  was  unmindful  of 
his  duties  at  home.  Mrs.  Sen,  or  the  children,  taken 
ill,  were  sometimes  unattended  upon ;  the  boys  now 
and  then  had  no  one  to  superintend  their  studies. 
Keshub  amidst  his  absorbing  occupations  had  no 
time  to  look  to  the  details  of  his  household  manage- 
ment. There  were  kind  friends,  and  devoted  disciples 
who  generally  volunteered  to  do  this  for  him.  But 
whether  all  the  domestic  needs  were  satisfied  or  not, 
Keshub's  ardent  affection  for  his  home  was  a  part  of 
his  many-sided  religion.  If  Mrs.  Sen  had  the  power 
to  utter  her  experiences,  she  could  unfold  a  tale  of 
conjugal  affection,  which  angels  might  listen  to  with 
joy,  so  mystical  and  tender  was  its  depth  and  truth. 
Many  perhaps  will  remember  his  published  dialogue 
of  the  Husband  Soul  to  the  Wife  Soul.  It  might 
not  unfitly  be  compared  to  Plato's,  or  Dante's,  or 
Swedenborg's  prophetic  speculations.  This  dialogue 
gives  some  insight  into  the  relationship  which  he 
held  should  exist  ideally  between  husband  and  wife, 
and  he  faithfully  tried  to  be  true  to  that  ideal  all 
his   life.      In   his    numerous   family   the   sweetest   and 


294  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

most  tender  relations,  after  his  own  example,  charac- 
terize the  inmates.  Mrs.  Sen's  cruel  widowhood  is 
soothed  by  the  genuine  and  deep  affection  which 
invariably  waits  upon  her,  wherever  she  turns  her  eye 
in  her  own  household.  It  ought  to  be  particularly 
mentioned  that  if  Keshub  wanted  to  do  every  duty 
he  owred  to  his  family,  he  was  above  all  things  most 
anxious  that  his  wife  should  be  initiated  in  the  high 
order  of  spirituality  which  he  himself  practised.  He 
made  her  sit  by  his  side  on  the  Himalayan  rocks,  while 
he  sat  in  the  ancient  Rishi  fashion,  and  cultivated  com- 
munion with  God  in  Yoga.  He  dressed  her  in  the  yellow 
ascetic  garb,  with  the  ektara  in  her  hand,  and  on  certain 
great  occasions,  gave  her  a  seat  near  him  in  the  domestic 
sanctuary  where  the  other  devotees  sat.  She  presided 
over  the  ladies'  devotional  meetings  regularly  held 
every  week.  Keshub  wished  his  wife  to  take  the  same 
place  amongst  the  women  of  the  Church  which  he  had 
taken  amongst  the  men  by  trying  to  impart  to  her  the 
same  virtues  which  he  himself  possessed  ;  he  wanted  his 
wife  to  be  a  fellow-ascetic,  and  a  fellow-devotee  with 
him. 

As  long  as  Keshub  lived  in  the  Colutolah  house, 
that  large  ancestral  mansion  was  the  resort  of  the  great 
and  good  from  the  whole  country,  one  might  say  from 
the  whole  world  ;  so  that  at  last  it  became  too  small 
for  his  requirements.  Viceroys,  Members  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  Maharajahs,  the  youth  and  intelligence  of 
the  whole  city  resorted  there.  In  fact  Keshub's 
necessities   became   daily    so   extensive,  that   since  his 


CHANGE   OF  RESIDENCE.  295 

return  from  Europe  he  was  often  thinking-  of  a  resi- 
dence better  able  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  his  position. 
The  other  inmates  of  the  family-house  too  became 
restive  under  the  perpetual  agitation  and  publicity 
which  Keshub's  presence  brought  upon  the  common 
domicile.  The  servants,  especially  the  doorkeepers, 
who  were  paid  out  of  the  joint  funds,  often  made  an 
outcry  against  the  continued  flow  of  visitors  up  to 
midnight,  or  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  Keshub 
hence  felt  the  urgent  need  of  an  independent  house  for 
himself.  For  brief  intervals  of  time  he  had  removed 
with  his  family  to  apartments  in  the  Bharat  Asram, 
but  that  did  not  suit  him  permanently.  His  domestic 
instincts,  under  the  impulse  of  religion,  demanded  what 
he  called  a  "  Settlement,"  and  he  began  to  write  dis- 
courses on  that  subject  in  the  middle  of  1877.  For- 
tunately towards  the  autumn  of  that  year,  a  fine 
residence  at  No.  72,  Upper  Circular  Road,  was  offered 
for  sale.  It  was  a  large  mansion,  with  a  garden,  and 
tank,  and  extensive  lands  adjoining.  The  price  too 
was  large,  it  was  Rs.  20,000.  When  Keshub  announced 
his  determination  to  purchase  this  property,  men  were 
startled,  they  thought  it  was  beyond  his  means  and 
position.  But  he  had  better  notions  of  his  require- 
ments, resources,  and  place  in  society.  At  considerable 
risk  and  liability  Keshub  bought  the  house,  which 
was  subsequently  consecrated  as  "  Lily  Cottage."  He 
removed  there  in  October  1877.  This  provoked  con- 
siderable jealousy  among  his  friends  and  relatives,  and 
not   a   few    Brahmos    disliked  the  etppearance  of    the 


296  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

fine    residence    which   their    Minister,    in    spite    of    his 
professions  of   asceticism,   secured.     Keshub   bore   this 
jealousy   with  his   habitual   calmness,   and  felt  grateful 
for   the   warm    and    enthusiastic   sympathy    which    his 
immediate  friends   and  disciples   showed  on    the   occa- 
sion.    For   several   months,    nay    almost    to    the    end 
of    1877,  he  was  actively   occupied    in   fitting"   up    and 
laying  out  Lily  Cottage  and  its  garden,  which  was  the 
future   centre  of  so   many  characteristic    developments 
of   the  religion  of  the    Brahmo    Somaj.     His   first    act 
was   to   set   apart  the  finest   room  in  the  house  for  the 
domestic  sanctuary,  where  all  his    fellow-devotees,   both 
men    and   women,    should    meet.     His   next   act  was  to 
furnish  a  drawing  room  for  the   reception  of   his    many 
visitors,   both    European  and  Indian.     He  planned  his 
library   and   sitting    room,    extended   his    gardens    and 
tank,  but   in   the  midst   of  it   all,   set  up  a  little  straw- 
thatched  hut,  where  he  might  practice  solitary  devotions 
and  self-discipline.     Who  anticipated  that  Lily  Cottage 
so  early  next  year  was   to   be  the    scene    of  the    august 
festivities    of  the    Cuch    Behar    marriage  ?      As    soon, 
however,  as  Keshub  had  a  house  of  his  own,  and  settled 
there,    his   anxiety  was  how   his   intimate  companions, 
the  Brahmo  Missionaries,   might  find    a  similar   settle- 
ment.    With  this  object  he  persuaded  them  to  sell  off 
their  effects,   and   build  houses   in    his    neighbourhood. 
He   made    a  valuable   grant   of  land  to  those  who  had 
not  the  wherewithal  to  buy  or   build.     And    those   who 
had   means,   purchased  building    plots    from    him,    as 
he    had    plenty    of   land    to   dispose    of    from   his    own 


THE   MANGAL   BARI  NEIGHBOURHOOD.  297 

compound.  Small  houses  and  cottages  thus  began  to 
rear  their  heads,  and  Keshub  consecrated  the  neigh- 
bourhood as  Mangal  Bari  (the  abode  of  welfare).  The 
little  colony  which  Keshub  set  his  heart  upon  establish- 
ing at  Upper  Circular  Road,  was  not  completed  before 
two  years  more.  He  meant  it  to  be  an  apostolic 
community  on  the  model  of  the  Bharat  Asram,  which 
had  been  so  beneficial.  It  was  a  semi-suburb xn 
locality  at  the  eastern  end  of  Calcutta,  with  plenty  of 
garden  and  greenery  on  all  sides.  The  nine  families 
that  first  gathered  were  trained  to  live  on  terms  of 
genuine  affection  and  mutual  dependence.  Both  the 
men  and  women  every  day  congregated  for  morning 
service  in  the  house  of  the  Minister.  The  ladies 
attended  the  meetings  of  the  Ladies'  Institution,  and 
the  weekly  service  in  the  Mandir.  The  boys  and  girls 
were  sent  to  the  Albert  College.  Altogether  there  were 
the  elements  of  a  healthy  little  community,  which  could 
perform  important  experiments  of  social  reform  on  a 
proper  scale,  and  on  an  independent  footing.  Keshub 
felt  that  the  New  Dispensation  was  bound  to  prove  to  the 
world  that  this  all-important  experiment  of  a  society 
founded  upon  strictly  Theistic  and  apostolical  principles, 
could  be  a  success  in  all  respects. 

It  becomes  necessary  here  to  explain  an  important 
principle  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  life,  namely,  the 
reconciliation  of  his  character  as  an  ascetic  and  a  man 
of  the  world,  as  a  devotee  and  a  householder.  Fair,  fat, 
and  florid  it  was  difficult  for  those  who  saw  Keshub  to 
make  him  out  as  an  ascetic.  His  house  stood  nearly  on 
38 


2g8  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEX. 

ten   bighas   of  land,   he   lived   in   a   garden    filled    with 
flowers  and  fruit  trees,   a  wide  well-paved   street  ran 
through    his    extensive   compound,    and   ended    under 
a   portico   where    stood   his    carriage    with    the    horse 
ready-harnessed   to   take   him    to    the    town.     It    was 
difficult   to    make   him    out   as  an   ascetic.     Yet  on  no 
religious  principle   did  Keshub   in  latter  times   lay  so 
much  stress  as  on  the  principle  of  asceticism.     He  was 
a  man  of  sufficient  natural    shrewdness   to   be   able  to 
understand  that  professions  of  self-denial  never  impress 
people  without  the  actual  practice  of  some   real   rigor 
in  habits   of  personal  life.     Did  he  practise  that  rigor  ? 
Where   lay   his   asceticism  ?     Why   did   people,    many 
even   among  his   own  friends,  fail  to  see  the  connection 
between  his  actual  practices    and  avowed  principles   of 
stoic  self-denial  ?     The  reason  of  all  this  is  that  people 
imagined    his   ideas    of  asceticism  were   exactly  those 
with  which  they  were  familiar  in   the   history  of  other 
religious  sects.     They  should  have  from  the  beginning 
renounced  this   supposition.     We  have  already  tried  to 
explain  that  asceticism  in   the    Brahmo   Somaj    means 
nothing  more  than  a  consistent  religious  discipline.     It 
is   never  considered  as  an  end,   a  virtue  in  itself,  but 
only    as   a   means    to    an    end.     Asceticism    leads    to 
poverty   of  spirit,    to  simplicity  of  habits,  to  a  contempt 
of  carnality  and  worldliness,  to  foster  devotional  habits, 
increased  dependence  upon  God,  and  a  culture  of  personal 
sympathy  with  the  great  departed  of  the  religious  world. 
As  a  means   and  stimulant  of  these  virtues  ascetic    self- 
denial  should  be  practised  from  time  to  time.     But  asceti- 


ASCETICISM  AND  HOUSEHOLD  LIFE  RECONCILED.     299 

cism  must  not  be  allowed  to  violate  any  of  the  laws  which 
should  regulate  human   life    in    its    different    relations, 
because  all  these  laws  are  established  by  the  direct   will 
and  commandment  of  God.     It  is  only  as  one  of  the  laws 
of  spiritual  life  that  asceticism  is  enjoined  to  be  practised. 
Asceticism   should  never  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  man  in  his  bodily,  domestic,  social,  and  moral  duties. 
Hence   Keshub    Chunder   Sen's  ideas  on  the  subject  of 
asceticism   were  different  from   those   held   usually   by 
religious  sectaries.     He  never  practised  the  same  form 
of  asceticism  all  his  life.     He  practised  it  as  long  as    he 
was  in  need  of  the  particular  phase  of  religious  life  which 
it   was  calculated  to  produce.     Having  realized  that,  he 
left  it,  and  took  to  the  performance  of  some  other  form  of 
self-denial  and  discipline.     He  never  inculcated  the  per- 
petuation   of   any   particular   form    of    asceticism.     He 
inculcated  and  practised  the  perpetuation  of  the  spirit  of 
self-discipline,   varying  the  forms  and  means  according 
to  times,  needs,  and  the  natures  of  men.     The  principle 
which   he  held  on  the  subject  was  that  the  strict  regula- 
tion   of  bodily  habits,   and  the   renunciation  of  certain 
bodily  pleasures,   was    indispensable  to   the   growth  of 
personal  morality  and    religion.     Now    let   us    see  how 
in  his   own   life   he   tried   to   carry   out   this  principle. 
It  was  in   the   year    1875    that   he  first   imposed    upon 
himself   the   painful    habit   of    cooking    his    own   food. 
Eating,    which    constitutes    the  principal    act   of    our 
daily   bodily  habits,    has    been    more    or   less    scrupu- 
lously  regulated    and   disciplined    by    every    religious 
teacher,    and    nowhere    so    much    as    in     India.      So 


300  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN. 

Keshub  first  applied  his   doctrine   of  asceticism    to   his 
food.     He    did    this    all    at    once    without    consulting 
anybody,  or  asking  any  of  his  disciples  to  do  as  he  did. 
When  he  found  its  efficacy   he    advised   them    to   adopt 
it.     He  did  it  for  two  years  nearly,  in  spite  of  ill-health, 
hot   weather,    and   repeated  remonstrances.     He   did  it 
to  practise  the  spirit  of  poverty  and  renunciation.     One 
after   another    all  the   Brahmo  missionaries,    and  not  a 
few   laymen,   adopted  the   practice.     Then    Keshub  left 
off  the  habit  to  resume  it  again  after  three  years  in  1881, 
when  the  New   Dispensation    was    announced.     He  left 
it  off  again.     Similarly  about  shaving  his  head.     When 
in  the  Sadhan  Kanan,  one  morning  he  suddenly  caused 
his   head   to   be   shaven,  and  put  on  the  Hindu  ascetic's 
yellow   robes.     Keshub   had  beautiful  black  wavy  hair, 
the  style  of  combing  which  formed  a   distinctive   feature 
of  his   face.     In  a  man  of  his  position,  intelligence,  and 
personal  appearance  this  most   singular    act   of  shaving 
required    a   self-denial    and    moral    courage  which  most 
people  generally  perhaps  will  not  understand.  His  moral 
courage   in  doing  whatever  he  thought  right  was  aston- 
ishing, and  formed  a  strange  contrast  to  his  natural  timi- 
dity and  shyness.     He  knew  he  would  be  ridiculed,  and 
his  motives  misrepresented.     But  he  felt  in  his  heart  this 
was  a  necessary  thing  to  do,  and  he  did  it.     It  has  been 
already    said    that    when  for  certain  reasons,  for  certain 
purposes  of  spiritual  culture,  he  retired  to  the  Sadhan 
Kanan   he   hewed   wood,    drew   water,    and   ate   scanty 
meals.     But    when  he  concluded  his  vow,  he  returned  to 
society  with  a  well-oiled    and   well-combed  head,   with 


ASCETICISM  AND  HOUSEHOLD  LIFE  RECONCILED.     30 1 

flowing  robes,  and  cheerful  looks  to  mix  with  the  highest 
and  richest  in  the  land.  He  dined  with  the  Viceroy  at 
Government  House,  but  touched  nothing  but  herbs  and 
water.  Generally  speaking  he  was  not  a  lover  of 
personal  luxuries  of  any  kind.  His  place  in  society 
made  it  necessary  sometimes  that  he  should  wear 
shining  boots,  and  costly  broadcloth,  but  in  private 
life  he  always  protested  against  this  by  wearing  coarse 
native  shoes,  and  simple  dhoties,  and  abjured  most 
ordinary  little  comforts  in  which  nobody  saw  any  fault. 
For  instance,  he  had  a  settled  dislike  to  eat  out  of  metal 
and  porcelain  plates,  and  had  his  food  served  on  the 
green  leaves  of  plantain  trees,  drinking  out  of  vessels 
made  of  the  commonest  earth.  For  a  time  he  even 
dispensed  with  the  humble  plantain  leaf,  and  his  frugal 
meals  were  laid  before  him  on  the  bare  floor  of  his 
dining  room.  In  March  1881,  after  he  had  celebrated 
the  sacrament  of  Lord's  Supper,  he  went  through  what 
he  called  the  Danda  Dharan  ceremony.  He  adopted 
for  the  time  the  life  of  the  thorough  mendicant.  He 
took  the  mendicant's  garb,  held  in  his  hand  the  mendi- 
cant's staff  or  danda,  and  for  weeks  together  lived 
strictly  on  the  offerings  of  food  made  by  the  public. 
These  practices  provoked  much  unfavourable  comment. 
His  food,  his  clothes,  his  changed  appearance  excited 
alarm  among  his  friends  lest  he  should  forsake  home 
and  society  to  retire  into  the  jungle  as  so  many  others 
have  done.  But  here  they  were  mistaken.  Those 
austerities  were  temporary.  Many  such  came  and 
went.      One    thing    however    was    constant.      Keshub 


302  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

Chunder  Sen  always  believed  in  the  influence  of  bodily 
habits  and  outward  practices  upon  the  growth  of  moral 
and  spiritual  character,  and  that  the  order  of  Theism 
which  he  professed  and  preached  was  a  religion  of 
austere  simplicity  and  self-denial,  bound  to  make  a 
courageous  protest  against  the  luxurious  self-indulgence 
of  the  times. 

But   if  such   was   the   tendency  of  Keshub    Chunder 
Sen,  it  did    not  certainly   represent    every   side   of  his 
complex    character.     There    were   other    parts    of    his 
nature  which  must  be  explained.     Keshub  looked    upon 
himself    as    a   householder.      He   believed   he   had    an 
important   example    to   show  as  a  husband,  as  a  father, 
as  a  subject,  as  a  member  of  society.     And  he    was    as 
careful   to   do   his   duties    in  these  capacities  as  in  any 
other.     He  knew  he  was  the   head   of    a   growing    and 
powerful    community  which  involved  in  itself  the  whole 
future    of    the    land.     And    his    personal    likings    for 
austerity  and  asceticism  did  not  exhaust  his  whole  field 
of  life.     He   felt   he   must   form    the   society,    and    the 
household  of  Hindu  Theists  ;  that  the  public  position    of 
his  movement  depended  upon  his  own  conduct  and  mode 
of  life.     And  hence  he  had  to  try  to  harmonize  personal 
self-denial  with  domestic  obligations  and  social  dignity. 
He   had   taken    the   vow  of  asceticism,    but  neither  his 
wife,  nor  children  had  clone  so,  he  was   therefore   bound 
to   keep   them    in    comfort  and  respectability.     He  was 
not  the  creator  of  his  circumstances.     He  believed  that 
Providence   had   ordained   his   circumstances   for   him. 
And    it    was    his    sacred    duty    to    be    faithful    to    cwvy 


ASCETICISM  AND  HOUSEHOLD  LIFE  RECONCILED.      303 

member  of  his  family.  To  be  true  to  them  was  to  be 
faithful  to  his  Master  who  had  committed  them  to  his 
care.  He  had  always  professed  to  behold  the  Divine 
in  what  was  most  natural.  Therefore  as  he  was  tiue 
to  his  religious  nature  by  cultivating  the  spirit  of  as- 
ceticism, so  he  was  true  to  his  domestic  and  social  nature 
by  being  a  model  householder,  and  a  worthy  member 
of  society.  In  these  capacities  then,  he  had  to  do 
many  of  those  things  which  other  men,  who  only  have 
his  social,  and  not  his  religious  position,  naturally  do. 
He  had  to  maintain  his  family  and  ancestral  standing. 
He  had  to  show  courtesy  to  every  class  of  society  with 
whom  he  had  been  thrown  in  contact.  He  had  to 
receive  Europeans,  and  Native  gentlemen  of  the  highest 
rank,  and  return  them  some  of  the  attention  and 
hospitality  which  they  delighted  to  show  him.  His  own 
son-in-law  was  a  prince  of  very  exalted  position. 
Successive  Viceroys  had  visited  his  home.  His  numer- 
ous admirers  and  followers  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
must  assemble  under  his  roof  at  least  once  a  year.  He 
had  therefore  to  keep  a  large  house.  He  had  to  keep 
an  establishment  of  servants.  He  had  to  keep  a 
carriage  to  take  him  to  his  numerous  engagements. 
He  had  to  marry  his  children  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
his  position.  He  maintained  a  printing  press,  where 
most  of  the  books  and  newspapers  of  his  Society  were 
published,  the  chief  source  which  yielded  an  inadequate 
income  to  support  his  extensive  household  of  ten  sons 
and  daughters.*    His  strenuous  attempts  at  establishing 

*  Another  small  source  of  income   was   the  sale   of  his  books  and  tracts 


304  LIFE    OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEX. 

this  harmony  between  the  different  capacities  of  his 
manifold  life  were  not  understood,  and  far  less  sym- 
pathized with  by  men  who  moved  in  one  particular 
groove.  The  simplicities  of  his  motives,  and  the 
complexities  of  his  circumstances  were  not  observed 
by  superficial  critics.  And  hence  they  continually 
accused  him  of  inconsistencies,  and  misunderstood  his 
actions.  If  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  only  to  play  the 
part  of  an  ascetic,  and  had  no  other  relations  of  a  great 
life  to  preserve  and  exemplify,  he  would  find  his  duties 
exceedingly  easy.  If  he  had  only  to  do  the  duty  of  a 
faithful  householder,  or  a  mere  religious  and  social 
leader,  he  would  also  find  his  duties  sufficiently  smooth 
and  pleasant.  But  to  be  an  ascetic,  a  devotee,  an 
exemplary  family  man,  a  distinguished  social  re- 
former, and  an  original  religious  teacher,  he  had  to 
call  forth  all  the  energies  and  gifts  of  his  nature 
to  the  fullest  extent,  and  look  up  to  God  alone  for  light 
and  guidance.  What  peaceful  harmony  he  was  able  to 
establish  between  these  many  functions  of  his  life,  how 
successfully    he    cultivated    his    natural    faculties    and 

which  during  his  lifetime  amounted  to  very  little.  Keshub  never  received 
any  salary,  or  regular  help  of  any  kind  from  the  public.  Sometimes  he  was 
in  difficulty  and  want.  He  literally  carried  out  the  principle  of  never  taking 
thought  for  the  morrow.  How  his  family  was  supported  was  a  wonder 
to  himself.  He  writes  to  an  English  friend  in  the  last  year  of  his  life 
thus  : — "  Nor  could  I  even  count  upon  a  definite  income  for  my  large  family, 
and  yet  through  darkness  and  uncertainty  the  Holy  Ghost  has  led  me  on, 
feeding  me,  my  wife,  and  ten  children,  and  even  giving  me  the  comforts  of 
life."  Notwithstanding  all  this  his  outward  life  was  like  that  of  a  man  of 
wealth  and  ease,  while  inwardly  he  lived  up  to  the  strict  ideal  of  his 
"  caste  of  poverty." 


keshub's  followers  and  fellow-devotees.    305 

aptitudes,  and  what  profound  responses  his  protracted 
devotions  brought  him,  let  his  family,  his  friends, 
his  numerous  following,  nay  his  whole  history,  declare 
unto  the  world  more  fully  than  we  can. 

It  is  time  now  to  speak  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's 
followers  and  fellow-devotees.  His  relations  to  these 
men  formed  a  most  characteristic  feature  of  his  life,  and 
his  conduct  towards  them  was  unique.  The  principal 
among  them  were  the  Brahmo  missionaries,  num- 
bering eighteen  men*  including  Keshub  himself.  Most 
of  these  men  had  each  a  special  accomplishment. 
Wooma  Nath  Gupta  had  a  primitive  unswerving  faith 
in  Keshub's  personality  and  teachings.  Amrita  Lai 
Bose,  a  man  of  much  enthusiasm  and  energy,  was  the 
builder  of  the  Brahma  Mandir  ;  Bejai  Krishna  Goswami 
had  great  love  of  God,  or  Bhakti ;  Mohendra  Nath  Bose 
did  much  personal  service  to  Keshub,  and  has  written  a 
life  of  Nanak  in  Bengali ;  Kanti  Chandra  Mitra  was  in 
charge  of  Keshub's  family,  and  was  also  put  in  charge  of 
other  missionary  families  ;  Aghor  Nath  Gupta  was  a  holy 
and  gentle  character,  devoted  to  Yoga  and  spiritual  com- 
munion of  every  kind  ;  he  has  written  an  excellent  life 
of  Buddha  ;  Trylokya  Nath  Sanyal  delighted  the  whole 
Brahmo  Somaj  by  his  powers  of  musical  performance 
and  poetic  composition  ;  Greesh  Chandra   Sen,   a  meek 

*  Wooma  Nath  Gupta,  Bejai  Krishna  Goshwami,  (who  latterly  deserted 
Keshub)  Amrita  Lai  Bose,  Mahendra  Nath  Bose,  Kanti  Chandra  Mitra, 
the  late  Aghor  Nath  Gupta,  Trylokya  Nath  Sanyal  (the  singing  apostle), 
Greesh  Chandra  Sen,  Gour  Govinda  Rai,  Prosanna  Kumar  Sen,  Kedar  Nath 
Day,  Dina  Nath  Mozumdar,  Piari  Mohan  Chowdry,  Kali  Shankar  Kabiraj, 
Ram  Chandra  Singh,  Banga  Chandra  Rai,  and  the  present  writer. 

39 


306  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

simple  soul,  enriched  the  Church  by  his  knowledge  of 
Persian  and  Arabic,  making  numerous  translations, 
besides  translating  the  entire  Koran,  from  the  writings 
of  Mahamedan  saints  ;  Gour  Govinda  Rai,  an  austere 
humble  devotee,  was  a  devoted  Sanscrit  scholar,  who 
continually  helped  Keshub  by  discovering  and  expound- 
ing texts  suitable  to  his  purpose  from  the  national 
scriptures  ;  Prosanna  Kumar  Sen  was  Keshub's  faithful 
personal  assistant,  who  travelled  with  him  to  England  ; 
Kedar  Nath  Day  was  a  quiet  devotee,  and  a  man  of 
much  personal  sacrifice  ;  Dina  Nath  Mozumdar,  of  a 
good  sociable  disposition,  was  the  resident  missionary  in 
Behar  ;  Piari  Mohan  Chowdhury,  who  went  to  England, 
did  great  service  by  rough  writing,  and  then  reproducing 
Keshub's  Bengali  sermons  and  prayers  ;  Kali  Shan- 
kar  Kabiraj,  joined  as  a  missionary  rather  late  ;  Ram 
Chandra  Singha  took  great  pains  to  build  the  mission- 
ary neighbourhood  known  as  Mangal  Bari ;  Banga 
Chandra  Rai  was  the  enthusiastic  and  devoted  mission- 
ary of  East  Bengal.  Each  of  these  persons  had  been 
early  drawn  into  the  Brahmo  Somaj  by  Keshub's 
personal  influence,  some  by  his  lectures  and  precepts, 
some  by  his  devotions,  others  by  the  purity  of  his  life 
and  example.  Keshub  was  a  born  fisher  of  men.  From 
his  infancy  almost,  it  was  his  instinct  to  draw  about 
him  a  number  of  kindred  spirits,  and  as  he  grew  up  into 
a  religious  leader,  he  believed  his  principal  work  was  to 
establish  a  fraternity  of  devoted  men  and  women  bound 
in  strict  apostolic  principles.  These  were  the  men  who 
formed  the  Sangat  Sava  about  1800,  who  formed  the  first 


keshub's  followers  and  fellow-devotees.    307 

batch  of  Brahmo  missionaries  in  1867,   who  formed  the 
nucleus   of  the  Bharat  Asram  in  1871,  and  the  apos- 
tolic neighbourhood  called  Mangal  Bari,  near  Keshub's 
home    in    1877.     They    gathered    around   him   by    the 
magnetism  of  his  character.     He  fully  permeated  them 
with  his  ideas,  he  ceaselessly  associated  them  with  his 
prayers,   and  his  work.     The  establishment  of  a  true 
brotherhood  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  was  a  subject  of  all- 
engrossing    anxiety    and    labour    to    him.      He    drew 
each   of   this   select   circle   of    friends   into   a   private, 
personal    relationship.     Apart    from    all  agreement  in 
opinion,  taste,  and  disposition,  his  personality  was  the 
centre  of  attraction  to  everybody.     Those  who  had  real 
confidence  in  him,  or  in  whom  he  had   confidence,   were 
pointed  to  him   by  inner  affinities.     The  men,   named 
above,  with  a  few  others  outside  the  circle  of   mission- 
aries,    were     Keshub's     church,     his    community,    his 
colleagues,  companions,  sympathizers,  supporters,  helps. 
They   stood   faithful   to   him    in    a  hundred   trials    and 
difficulties.     He  was  never  happy  without  them,   they 
were  never  happy  without  him.     He  was  their  leader, 
their    minister,    their    guardian,    teacher,    centre.     He 
watched  them  ceaselessly,  and  helped  to   develop  their 
special    endowments.     He    arranged    to   remove   their 
domestic  wants,   shielded  them    from   public  criticism, 
rebuked  them  for  their  shortcomings,  and  helped   them 
to  find   out  the  occupations  of  their  life.     They  in  their 
turn  took  charge  of  his  person,  and  his  family,  fed  him, 
fostered  him,  escorted  him,  travelled  with  him,  kept  watch 
and  ward  over  him,     Their  presence  and  enthusiastic  par- 


308  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

ticipation  in  all  his  devotions,  ideas,  and  activities  made  his 
success  as  a  devotee  possible.  Outside  this  little  band  ot 
men  Keshub  had  certainly  an  extensive  following  ;  thou- 
sands accepted  his  teachings,  and  honoured  his  character. 
But  he  concentrated  all  his  efforts  upon  this  very  small 
number  to  create  a  centre  of  fraternal  unity,  wherein 
to  form  the  whole  mass  of  national  life  into  a  National 
Church.  He  systematically  tried  to  bind  the  missionaries 
of  his  Church  into  a  holy  and  happy  family.  He  met  with 
a  hundred  disappointments  and  failures,  but  persisted  in 
his  attempts  to  the  very  last.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
see  how  he  treated  them.  It  ought  to  be  remembered 
that  all  these  men  had  by  their  own  accord  given  up  their 
worldly  avocations,  and  devoted  themselves  entirely 
to  the  service  of  the  Church.  Almost  all  of  them  were 
poor  men,  with  insufficient  education  at  first,  which 
three  or  four  wonderfully  improved  afterwards.  Keshub 
persuaded  them  early  to  live  the  life  of  ascetics.  When 
the  mission  department  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  was 
organized  in  1867,  the  few  young  men  who  then  enlisted 
themselves  as  preachers  had,  among  other  privations, 
to  subsist  upon  the  scanty  almsgiving  of  not  an  over- 
sympathetic  public.  They  never  took  any  salary,  and 
sometimes  enough  food  could  not  be  found  for  them. 
The  present  writer  remembers  how  at  midday  some  of 
them  ransacked  Keshub's  writing- box  for  a  few  pice 
wherewith  to  buy  their  daily  food.  This  poverty,  though 
not  directly  shared  by  Keshub,  was  instructive,  sugges- 
tive, and  sacred  to  him,  who,  though  their  recognized 
leader,  was   always  watching  the   good  points   of  their 


KESHUB   AND   THE   BRAHMO   MISSIONARIES.         309 

character,    and   eager   to   learn   therefrom.     He   found 
great  faith  in  one,  love  in  another,  humility,   self-denial, 
intelligence,  purity,  devoutness,  and  various  other  gifts 
in    each    of    his  devoted   disciples,   who,    he   stedfastly 
believed,  were  elected  by  God,  and   appointed   to   their 
respective  callings.     But  these  gifts  were  not  developed 
at  first.     He  helped  their  unfolding  by  those  long  daily 
devotional    services    in   his    house   which   were    begun 
almost  at  the  same  time  as  the   rupture  with    the   Adi 
Somaj    in   1866.     The  progress  of  his   own    devotional 
feelings    produced    a    corresponding    effect    upon    the 
hearts   of  his   associates,  and  every  subsequent  phase  of 
spiritual   life   through    which   he   passed    was     always 
reflected  in   their  lives.     When  his   attachment  to   the 
life  and  teachings   of  Christ   showed  itself,   they  began 
to  study  the  Bible    and  Christian  writings   with   great 
animation.     When  he  introduced  the  Vaishnava  rivival, 
they  drank  of  the  wild  enthusiasm  of  song  and  dance. 
When  he  began  and  pushed  on  his  social  reforms,  they 
were    untiring    in    their   co-operation ;    they   were   the 
teachers  of  his  schools,  the   editors   of   his   newspapers, 
clerks   of   his   offices,   and   keepers   of  the  public  funds 
which  he  gathered,   his  representatives  in  every  work. 
He  and  they  formed,  as  it  were,  a  great  spiritual  organ 
on   which   the   breath    of  Providence    played   a   grand 
solemn   music  both   in   sentiment  and  action.     He  felt 
his   little  apostolic   community  was  organized  and  kept 
up  not  by  himself,  but  by   the  Spirit  of  God.     Without 
the  aid  of  the  Brahmo  missionaries  he  could  not  have 
done   much,    but   without   him    their   characters   would 


3IO  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEX. 

never  have  unfolded.  He  made  them  preceptors, 
preachers,  missionaries,  apostles,  it  was  by  his  influence 
that  they  became  the  leaders  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
movement ;  but  he  himself  was  the  leader  of  these 
leaders.  He  discovered  in  each  some  great  essential 
quality  of  a  new  religious  dispensation,  and  not  only 
did  he  not  regard  them  as  his  inferiors  and  servants, 
but  called  himself  their  servant.  He  hated  to  take 
the  name  of  teacher  or  master.  The  mission  work 
was  organized  in  the  following  way.  The  affairs 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  and  the  Indian  Reform 
Association  had  been  divided  into  different  depart- 
ments. There  was  the  Mission  Office  ;  the  Ministry 
of  the  Brahma  Mandir  ;  the  various  newspapers  ;  the 
schools  for  boys  and  girls ;  the  buildings  ;  the  so- 
cieties ;  the  charities.  A  missionary  worker  was 
generally  placed  at  the  head  of  these  various  institu- 
tions, expected  to  labour  hard  at  his  duties,  and  feel 
responsible  for  the  good  management  of  his  work. 
These  definite  secular  duties  alternated  with  definite 
spiritual  duties,  such  as  missionary  visitations  in  the 
provinces,  conduct  of  religious  services.  Thus  each 
Missionary  was  bound  to  vary  his  usefulness  by  going 
through  the  largest  amount  of  work,  both  temporal  and 
devotional.  The  support  of  the  missionaries  was  under- 
taken by  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  of  which  Keshub 
was  the  Secretary.  Each  one  of  the  establishments  over 
which  they  presided  was  expected  to  contribute  to  their 
support,  whilu  the  bulk  of  that  responsibility  fell  upon 
the  Brahmo  public.  All  the  missionaries  joined  to  form  a 


HOW   THE  MISSIONARIES   WERE   ORGANIZED.      31 1 

weekly  Conference,  afterwards  called  the  Apostolic  Dar- 
bar,  which  was  meant  to  be  a  self-controlling  fraternity, 
and  to  conduct  its  affairs  by  the  principle  of  unanimous 
agreement  on  every  important  question.  Keshub  was 
the  president  of  the  Darbar.  The  Apostolic  Darbar 
was  intended  to  be  a  regulative  body,  a  society  of 
elders  which  would  preside  over  the  entire  Church,  and 
it  was  composed  exclusively  of  Brahmo  missionaries. 
If,  however,  the  latter  failed  to  come  to  a  decision  on 
any  important  question,  the  President's  decision  was 
held  to  be  binding  upon  them.  Though  there  was  an 
Annual  Conference  of  Brahmos  at  the  time  of  the 
anniversary  in  January,  and  they  had  the  nominal 
power  of  changing  the  office-bearers  of  the  Somaj, 
and  modify  its  constitution,  as  a  matter  of  fact  this 
power  was  seldom  exercised,  and  Brahmos  generally 
had  unbounded  confidence  in  Keshub  as  their  Secretary, 
and  the  Missionaries  under  his  leadership. 

The  Brahmo  missionaries  for  all  these  reasons  de- 
pended upon  Keshub  very  naturally,  and  not  only 
followed  his  example,  but  in  every  difficulty  sought 
his  verbal  direction.  For  such  dependence  they  were 
often  characterized  by  unfriendly  critics  as  servile  imita- 
tors, blind  sycophants,  and  other  opprobrious  epithets, 
and  Keshub  himself  was  charged  with  having  robbed 
them  of  their  independence,  and  converted  them  into 
his  worshippers.  It  cannot  be  said  the  Brahmo  Mis- 
sionaries were  fully  competent  to  discharge  the  various 
functions  and  responsibilities  that  were  placed  upon 
them,  and  in  the  discussions  which  consequently  arose, 


312  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

it  was  often  found  almost  impossible  to  arrive  at  any 
joint  decision.  And  hence  the  Brahmo  missionaries 
always  sought  Keshub's  directions.  Keshub's  powers, 
both  of  thought  and  action,  towered  so  high  above 
every  surrounding  individuality,  that  his  colleagues 
necessarily  thought  they  could  do  nothing  better  than 
take  from  him  the  law  of  conduct  at  every  emergency. 
He  always  discouraged  such  dependence,  though  he 
liked  the  confidence  which  it  showed,  and  wanted  every 
man  to  take  his  guidance  from  the  Indwelling  Inspirer. 
But  nevertheless  they  looked  up  to  him  always.  Be- 
sides it  need  not  be  concealed  that  considerable  personal 
differences  and  jealousies  characterized  the  mutual 
relations  of  these  immediate  followers  of  Keshub,  giving 
rise  to  unpleasant  controversies  which  sorely  offended 
him,  surprised  outsiders,  and  threatened  the  prospects  of 
the  whole  movement.  The  worst  effects  of  these  unfortu- 
nate discords  have  been  seen  after  Keshub's  death,  but 
when  he  was  alive,  they  were  often  virulent  enough.  How 
Keshub  dealt  with  these  difficult  men,  through  whom  he 
had  to  do  almost  every  part  of  his  work,  was  a  most  in- 
teresting feature  of  his  character.  His  chief  care  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  was  a  strenuous  long-continued 
attempt  to  establish  harmony  among  them,  because  he 
knew  that  the  whole  future  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  the 
success  of  his  own  life-work  lay  in  the  harmony.  His 
character  and  principles  as  an  organizer  and  adminis- 
trator were  severely  tested  in  leading  these  leaders  of 
the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  very  first  point  that  struck  an 
outsider  was  the  almost  entire  absence  of  any  exercise  of 


HOW  HE   TREATED   THE   BRAIIMO   MISSIONARIES.     313 

control  in  the  body  of  missionary  workers.  Any  one  who 
at  all  knew  Keshub  would  bear  testimony  that  he  was  the 
reverse  of  a  weak  man,  and  his  adversaries  were  of  one 
opinion  about  the  firmness  of  his  character.  He  had  a 
wonderful  force  of  will  over  himself,  and  his  circum- 
stances. But  he  had  a  strange  disinclination,  one  might 
almost  call  it  incapacity,  to  enforce  that  will  upon  other 
men.  No  doubt  he  wanted  to  govern  men,  he  was 
never  a  democrat  in  any  sense  ;  but  his  great  aim  was 
to  govern  men  by  love,  not  by  authority.  He  held 
every  man's  independence  to  be  a  sacred  birth-right 
with  which  he  would  never  interfere.  He  called  him- 
self their  minister,  and  helped  the  Brahmo  missionaries, 
times  without  number,  taking  no  end  of  means,  to  put 
them  in  the  way  of  organizing  themselves  into  a  self- 
governing  brotherhood,  but  he  never  tried  directly  to 
control  their  voluntary  activities.  The  result  of  it  was 
that  one  man's  activity  collided  with  another's,  inde- 
pendence fought  with  independence,  especially  as  the 
respective  fields  of  work  bordered  close  upon  each 
other.  They  differed  and  discussed,  wrangled  and 
fought,  and  the  leader  calmly  sat  among  them,  often  a 
dumb  auditor,  often  an  agonized  spectator,  throwing  out 
a  word  or  suggestion  occasionally  as  oil  over  the  troubled 
waters.  Generally,  however,  he  left  the  quarrels  to  ad- 
just themselves.  They  all  professed  loyalty,  faithful- 
ness, obedience  to  him  only ;  each  felt  Keshub  was  on 
his  side,  and  each  sought  his  verbal  direction,  his 
authoritative  pronouncement.  This  was  what  he  never 
gave.  Hints,  suggestions,  proposals  he  would  often 
40 


314  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN. 

make,  but  he  was  always  most  scrupulous  to  say  Yea 
or  Nay  in  matters  which  touched  the  responsibilities  of 
other  men.  Not  that  he  was  uncertain  in  his  opinions, 
not  that  he  had  no  personal  feeling  or  interest  in  matters 
about  which  the  difficulties  arose.  He  was  sometimes 
most  indignant,  most  aggrieved,  sometimes  utterly 
victimized  by  the  vagaries  of  his  associates,  but  he 
always  made  it  a  most  stern  principle  not  to  constrain 
the  freedom,  or  the  moral  sense,  or  even  the  tastes  and 
dispositions,  of  his  disciples.  Says  he  in  the  Jeevan 
Ved  : — "  I  have  made  independence  the  captain  of  my 
band.  For  this  reason  I  call  those  who  are  with  me 
my  friends,  I  never  call  myself  their  guru  or  master. 
Liberty  shall  triumph,  truth  shall  triumph.  When  inde- 
pendence calls  men,  if  any  want  to  come  let  them  come, 
let  there  be  no  guruism.  I  hate  subjection.  What  I  abhor 
in  myself,  do  I  not  hate  in  others  ?  1  cannot  bear  to  see 
any  one,  even  in  the  least  in  the  Church,  depend  upon 
another ;  it  is  exceedingly  unbearable  to  me  to  find 
any  one  depending  upon  me.  Do  you  know  I  have  never 
been  a  slave  to  anybody,  why  then  should  you  be 
slaves  ?  He  who  has  never  been  a  slave  himself,  if  he 
should  try  to  make  another  his  slave,  or  feel  happy  at 
another's  slavery,  is  not  he  a  sinner  and  a  hypocrite  ? 
I  am  not  a  guru,  I  have  never  tried  to  enslave  men. 
I  have  always  said  I  am  a  learner.  If  there  be  fifty 
men  in  my  party,  they  are  of  fifty  different  kinds. 
Truth  is  my  witness,  the  sun  and  moon  are  my  wit- 
nesses, if  there  be  a  hundred  men  present  here,  every- 
one of  them  is  individually  his  own  chief,  and  keeps  his 


HOW   HE   TREATED   THE   BRAHMO   MISSIONARIES.      315 

prevailing  individuality.  Everyone  will  have  to  ac- 
knowledge this  before  me  now,  and  acknowledge  it 
when  I  am  gone.  I  have  ground  no  man  in  my  mill, 
but  wished  to  see  everyone  free.  I  ask  no  one  to 
call  me  guru,  or  master,  or  governor,  but  look  upon 
God  alone  as  such."  Keshub  must  have  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  make  such  an  avowal  once  for  all,  because  he 
had  been  repeatedly  charged  with  setting  up  his  own 
worship,  robbing  men  of  their  reason  and  rightful 
liberty,  and  making  them  subservient  instruments  of 
his  selfish  purposes.  No  charge  could  be  more  ab- 
solutely baseless.  If  he  could  be  charged  with  any- 
thing, he  could  be  charged  with  indulging  a  fatal 
independence  in  the  character  of  his  disciples.  He 
kept  his  independence,  they  kept  theirs.  Trouble 
arose  because  they  wanted  to  assert  their  individuality 
under  the  sanction  of  his  authority,  to  secure  which  they 
not  unoften  surrendered  outwardly  both  their  rights 
of  judgment  and  freedom  of  action.  That  surrender, 
however,  Keshub  never  accepted  while  the  underlying 
individuality  was  retained.  So  while  they  thought 
they  were  submissive,  he  never  gave  them  credit  for 
true  submission.  While  the  public  accused  him  of 
enslaving  his  followers  he  doubly  suffered  ;  suffered 
because  of  the  hateful  accusation  ;  suffered  also  because 
he  had  no  real  control  upon  the  lawless  independence 
of  his  subordinates.  He  watched  with  intense  grief 
and  alarm  the  progress  of  this  destructive  tendency 
in  his  movement.  But  his  principle  made  him  power- 
less to  interfere.     In  its  essence  that  principle  was  the 


316  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

human  rendering  of  the  impassiveness  of  Providence 
towards  men's  attitudes  and  actions.  God  suffers  every 
manner  of  wrong-doing  to  take  place,  and  allows 
individual  freedom  to  wander  to  its  extremest  limit 
of  wilfulness.  He  seldom  opposes  this  false  freedom 
with  anything  more  serious  than  the  general  laws  of 
righteousness  often  so  mild  and  inoperative.  But  there 
is  one  thing  which  Providence  provides.  When  the 
liberty  of  one  man  trenches  upon  the  liberty  of  another, 
He  causes  these  men  to  execute  judgment  upon  each 
other.  Such  men  punish  each  other  most  sternly,  and  that 
punishment  might  be  very  well  taken  as  the  retribution 
of  God.  This  was  the  great  law  of  personal  leadership 
to  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  He  never  hesitated  to  express 
his  estimate  of  the  several  independent  courses  followed 
by  his  subordinates,  but  he  never  spoke  directly  to 
any  one,  he  spoke  of  the  shortcomings  of  one  before 
the  others,  or  he  spoke  fervently  in  the  presence  of  all 
before  the  throne  of  God.  Thus  he  tried  to  foster  a 
public  opinion  by  which  the  little  community  might 
govern  itself,  its  individuals,  as  well  as  its  general 
movements.  Few  members  of  the  body  could  pretend 
ignorance  of  the  leader's  occasional  disapproval  of 
their  respective  shortcomings,  nay,  this  disapproval 
conveyed  through  indirect,  and  oftentimes  unfriendly 
mediums,  gathered  only  the  greater  force.  But  Ke- 
shub's  uncommon  gentleness,  combined  with  the  strict 
principle  he  had  prescribed  for  himself  in  all  such 
matters,  made  it  imjoossible  for  him  to  exercise  any 
direct  government.     For  this  reason  Keshub  was  often 


KESHUB   AS   A   GOVERNOR.  317 

set  down  as  "  a  weak  governor."  He  had  heard 
this  accusation  repeatedly,  he  pleaded  guilty  to  the 
ineffectual  government,  but  he  never  pleaded  guilty  to 
the  weakness.  Tyranny,  he  maintained,  was  not  the 
strongest  government ;  patience,  love  and  longsuffering 
were  the  strongest.  To  the  most  urgent  appeals  for 
immediate  advice,  to  the  most  vociferous  manifestations 
of  perplexity,  to  the  most  gushing  effusions  of  confidence 
he  generally  responded  by  brief  sentences,  and  now 
and  then  by  impenetrable  silence.  To  some  extent 
this  might  be  because  he  was  the  recipient  of  very 
contradictory  confidences,  and  the  arbiter  of  very  con- 
trary interests,  all  which  required  a  perfect  control  of 
expression  on  his  own  part.  He  wanted  to  make 
every  man's  conscience  a  law  unto  himself,  he  wanted 
every  man  to  receive  that  immediate  direction  and 
guidance  from  the  Spirit  of  God  within,  which  to  him  was 
the  sole  light  of  his  path.  He  wanted  every  one  of  his 
apostles  to  be  as  free  and  God-inspired  as  he  was  him- 
self. But  the  patience,  passivity,  and  self-restraint  this 
required  made  him  frequently  appear  somewhat  weak 
and  unsympathetic.  His  grand  ideal  of  an  apostolic 
community  was  the  unity  of  inspiration  from  the  Source 
of  Light,  and  the  unity  of  heart  in  perfect  brotherly 
confidence.  Hence  he  discarded  the  doctrine  of  the 
centralization  of  governing  power  in  any  man,  he  was 
the  veriest  antithesis  of  a  Pope.  All  authority  he  held 
was  the  prerogative  of  love  and  responsible  work ;  it 
was  willingly  surrendered  in  kind-hearted  affection  by 
the    recognition    of    real    work    done.      He    certainly 


3 18  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

claimed  high  authority  as  leader,  he  was  conscious  of 
his  own  great  position,  but  he  wanted  to  give  authority 
to  every  one,  he  wished  every  one  to  get  his  rightful 
position  by  virtue  of  the  responsibility  entrusted  to 
him.  He  wanted  his  Church  to  be  a  self-governed 
apostolate  where  virtue  recognized  virtue,  love  sub- 
mitted to  love,  and  every  personality  found  its  due 
place  and  order.  He  believed  in  the  harmony  of  every 
personality  with  the  great  principles  of  a  divinely 
regulated  dispensation.  His  responsibility  he  held  was 
in  giving  form  and  coherence  to  the  body,  and  this  he 
did  by  laying  down  precepts,  disciplines,  principles 
which  he  expected  men  to  adopt  and  follow  by  their 
independent  spiritual  discernment.  The  leading  prin- 
ciples amongst  these  are  embodied  in  the  Charge  which 
Keshub  gave  to  the  Brahmo  Missionaries  on  the 
Bengali  New  Year's  Day  in  April  1883,  the  last  year  of 
his  life.     We  give  it  below  : — 

Dearly  beloved  brethren,  Apostles  of  the  New  Dispensation,  here  in  this 
Sanctuary  assembled  and  elsewhere,  know  that  the  Ford  our  God  commands 
you  to  be  more  strict  and  faithful  in  your  adherence  to  ascetic  principles  than 
you  have  heretofore  been.  You  shall  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow.  Ye 
shall  be  perfectly  free  from  all  worldly  cares  and  anxieties  regarding  your 
food  and  raiment.  Ye  shall  not  covet  riches.  Ye  shall  not  seek  gold  or 
silver.  Hitherto  ye  have  lived  partly  upon  alms  and  public  charil 
and  partly  upon  private  contributions.  Hitherto  you  stood  forward 
as  ascetics  with  your  solemn  vow  of  self-surrender,  but  your  wives 
stood  apart,  sharing  neither  the  honours  nor  the  privations  of  that 
holy  vow.  These  anomalies  the  Lord  forbids,  and  lie  commands  you 
forthwith  to  remove  them.  Ye  shall  have  nothing  save  that  which  comes 
through  the  Father's  storediousc  in  the  Mission  Office.  What  conies 
through   other   channels    \e    shall   not   touch.     For  yourselves  and  loi  youi 


LAST   CHARGE   TO   THE   MISSIONARIES.  319 

families  take  that  only  which  the  Lord  gives  to  you  :  things  which  other 
hands  provide  are  unclean.  Teach  your  wives  poverty,  and  in  your  journey 
to  the  Holy  Land  let  them  be  fellow-pilgrims.  A  house  divided  against 
itself  must  fall.  An  ascetic  husband  and  a  worldly  wife  cannot  make  a 
happy  home.  If  one  seeks  God  and  the  other  earthly  riches,  there  can  be 
no  peace.  Let  us  make  our  homes  blessed  apostolic  homes,  where  the 
husband  and  the  wife,  like  partners  in  spiritual  wedlock  tied,  shall  live  in 
peace  at  the  feet  of  the  Lord,  and  give  Him  their  joint  homage  and  service 
as  Vairagi  and  Vairagini  householders.  All  our  friends  and  contributors  are 
hereby  warned  not  to  depart  from  this  holy  injunction  of  our  Lord.  What 
they  would  give  they  should  send  direct  to  the  Mission  Office,  or  to  the 
Sanctuary.  Let  them  not  tempt  our  people  by  making  them  touch  for- 
bidden gold.  Your  servant,  beloved  Apostles,  shall  receive  all  alms  and 
gifts  for  you,  and  your  hands  shall  remain  clean.  There  are  three  other 
things,  brethren,  to  which  the  Lord  calls  your  attention.  Ye  shall  love  one 
another  more  warmly  than  you  have  dotie  before.  Eschew  all  unbrotherly 
contention  and  wrangling,  abandon  selfishness,  jealousy  and  pride,  and  be 
passionately  attached  to  each  other  as  brothers  in  the  Lord.  Thirdly,  be 
catholic,  and  give  up  all  manner  of  sectarianism  and  exclusiveness.  In  this 
Apostolic  band  let  each  scripture  be  respected,  and  let  each  prophet  be 
honoured,  and  let  no  form  of  devotion  or  piety  be  ignored.  While  your 
general  character  indicates  the  complete  harmony  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
each  of  you  shall  represent  particular  scriptures  and  prophets,  different 
aspects  of  faith  and  duty,  and  take  charge  of  different  districts  and  pro- 
vinces as  your  mission  field,  so  that  this  Apostolic  family  may  be,  as  our 
Father  wishes  it  to  be,  a  truly  representative  assembly  of  the  religious  world. 
Lastly,  make  your  consciences  clean,  and  your  hearts  pure.  Neglect  not 
common  duties  in  your  zeal  for  asceticism  and  devotion.  While  ye  seek  the 
heights  of  Yoga,  and  the  depths  of  Bhakti,  you  must  discharge  the  litttle 
duties  of  your  daily  life  with  the  utmost  fidelity  and  care.  Cultivate  piety 
and  moral  purity  simultaneously  ;  and  as  you  grow  in  faith  and  communion, 
show  that  you  are  also  growing  in  veracity,  and  philanthropy,  in  domestic 
affections,  and  social  virtues. 

These  principles  resolve  thus  into  (1)  personal  poverty 
and  asceticism  ;  (2)  spiritual  discipline  in  the  house- 
hold,   holy   relationship    between   husband    and    wife ; 


320  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

(3)  organization  and  mutual  relationship  in  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  Mission  Office,  which  Keshub  always  looked 
upon  as  the  storehouse  of  Providence ;  (4)  mutual  love 
among  the  missionaries,  and  the  abandonment  of  all 
jealousy,  selfishness,  anger  ;  (5)  catholicity  of  spirit,  and 
the  acceptance  of  all  scriptures,  prophets,  and  aspects  of 
faith  and  duty  ;  (6)  strict  morality  and  dutifulness  har- 
monized with  contemplation,  communion,  and  love  of 
God.  These  were  the  lines  then  on  which  Keshub 
always  tried  to  train  up  his  apostolic  organization. 
In  one  respect  his  success  was  great.  He  succeeded 
unquestionably  in  training  up  a  number  of  devoted, 
pious,  ascetic  missionaries  of  whom  the  Church  might 
be  justly  proud.  They  are  the  best  memorials  of  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen's  work.  But  in  another  view  his  ill-success 
was  also  singular.  With  all  the  many  good  qualities 
which  the  Brahmo  missionaries  acquired,  they  failed  to 
distinguish  themselves  in  some  of  the  all-important 
virtues  enumerated  here,  and  their  chief  failure  was  in 
the  virtue  of  mutual  love  and  toleration.  It  is  prema- 
ture to  say  how  their  mutual  disagreements  affected 
themselves  and  their  leader,  but  it  is  an  undoubted  fact 
that  even  at  the  time  we  are  speaking  of  he  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious,  and  often  deeply  alarmed  at  the  hostile 
and  disintegrating  elements  around  him.  This  part  of 
the  subject  is  painful  to  dwell  upon,  but  unfortunately  it 
will  be  necessary  now  and  then  to  refer  to  it  in  elucidat- 
ing certain  important  matters  towards  the  close  of 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  career  on  earth. 


321 

CHAPTER  X. 

TRIALS  AND  PERSECUTIONS. 
The  Cuch  Behar  Marriage,  1878. 

A  SEPARATE   chapter   is  alotted  to  the  Cuch  Behar 
Marriage  not  because   we     mean    to     rediscuss    its 
incidents,  but  only  because  it  formed  the  grea,t  turning 
point  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  career. 

In  August  and  September  1877  when  the  present 
writer  was  in  Bombay,  letters  were  written  to  him  both 
by  the  Brahmo  leader  himself,  and  other  friends,  that 
negociations  had  been  most  unexpectedly  opened  by 
the  Government  of  Bengal  for  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  to  the  young  enlightened  Maharaja  of  Cuch 
Behar.  This  youthful  prince,  left  under  the  guardianship 
of  the  Government  by  the  untimely  death  of  his  father, 
had  been  carefully  educated  by  English  tutors,  and  his 
official  guardians  determined  that  he  should  marry  a 
girl  who  was  somewhat  his  equal  in  knowledge  and 
refinement.  The  Cuch  Behar  dynasty  was  not  particu- 
larly fettered  by  caste  restrictions,  and  a  suitable  match 
was  sought  for  the  prince  in  every  part  of  the  country. 
At  last  the  authorities  thought  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's 
daughter  would  serve  the  purpose  very  well,  and  the 
proposal  was  accordingly  made.  Directly  we  heard  of 
it  we  naturally  rejoiced  both  for  the  sake  of  the  young 
couple,  and  the  family  of  the  Minister,  but  it  had  not 
the  same  effect  upon  every  one  of  Keshub's  friends. 
A  great  number  of  them  feared  the  prospects  of  the 
Brahmo   Somaj    would    be    greatly   injured  by  such    an 

4i 


322  LIFE   OF   KESIIUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

alliance.     Many  felt  a  strong  repulsion  at  the  very  men- 
tion of  the  match  ;  some,  we  are  afraid,  out  of  personal 
jealousy,  but  others  no  doubt  out  of  honorable  and  con- 
scientious motives.     Amongst  these  were  a   number   of 
Keshub's    English    friends   who    anticipated  the  report 
would  affect  his  reputation  in  their   part   of  the    world. 
The  negotiations   in    the   meanwhile   advanced  and  re- 
ceded, and  seemed  at  last  to  have  broken  off  altogether. 
With   the  commencement  of  the  new  year  (1878),  they 
began  again,  and  by  the  close  of  the  proceedings  of  our 
anniversary  festival,  in  the  beginning  of  February,  took 
the  form    of  a  definite  settlement.     As  soon  as  this  was 
known,   the  most   vigorous    protests  began  to  pour  in 
from    Brahmos   both  of  Calcutta  and  outside.     The  pro- 
tests were  based  mainly  upon  the  following  grounds  : — 
There  was  the  marriage  law  passed  by  the  Government, 
Act  III  of  1872,  popularly  known  as   the    Brahmo  Mar- 
riage Act,  mainly  by  the  exertions,  as  the  reader  knows, 
of  Keshub   himself,    for   the   legalization    of  advanced 
unidolatrous  marriages,  such  as  the  Brahmo  Somaj  had 
introduced.     This    law   which    was   meant   to    do  away 
among  other  things  with  child-marriages,  had  fixed  the 
marriageable  age  of  girls  at  the  completion  of  fourteen, 
and  of  men  at  the  completion  of  eighteen  years.     These 
ages  were  set  down  as  the  average  minimum  after  much 
medical   advice,    and  general  discussion.*     The  protes- 
tors took  exception  to  the  proposed  marriage,  firstly,  be- 
cause it  was  not  to  be  celebrated  according  to  this  Mar- 
riage Act  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,   and  secondly,  because 

*  See  p.  252. 


PROTESTS    AND   OBJECTIONS.  323 

the  girl  was  under  her  fourteenth  year,  and  the  Maharaja 
was  not  yet  sixteen.  In  the  third  place,  they  feared  that 
idolatrous,  or  at  all  events,  untheistic  rites  and  cere- 
monies were  likely  to  be  introduced.  They  also  pointed 
out  that  the  Maharaja  not  being  a  Brahmo,  should  not 
marry  the  daughter  of  the  Brahmo  leader,  and  they 
argued  that  as  the  custom  of  polygamy  was  long  in  use 
in  the  royal  family  of  Cuch  Behar,  the  proposed  mar- 
riage, being  independent  of  the  provisions  of  the  Act, 
gave  no  guarantee  against  the  repetition  of  that  evil. 
These  were  the  arguments  of  the  protestors  soberly  put, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  deny  there  was  rational  ground 
for  the  alarm  felt.  But  unfortunately  they  did  not  con- 
fine themselves  to  this.  As  the  controversy  grew  hot, 
in  various  letters,  remonstrances,  and  especially  news- 
papers, various  bitter  accusations  and  violent  charges 
were  made  against  Keshub,  which  provoked  angry 
retorts  by  his  friends.  And  thus  the  work  of  mutual 
vilification  went  on  with  increasing  rage,  till  the  time 
approached  for  the  marriage  to  take  place.  Keshub 
did  not  read  the  protests,  did  not  give  any  explanations, 
far  less  make  any  replies,  but  he  repeatedly  said  that  if 
any  other  person  did  what  he  was  doing,  he  would  un- 
doubtedly protest  with  vigour.  This  showed  that  the 
abstract  justice  of  the  protests  he  admitted,  while  in  his 
own  case  he  claimed  exceptional  consideration  at  the 
hands  of  the  Brahmo  public.  He  felt,  however,  that  a 
very  formidable  public  opinion  was  slowly  forming 
against  the  step  he  was  about  to  take.  This  made  him 
careful   to  demand  conditions  and  safe-guards  from  the 


324  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEX. 

Government  which  would  effectually  protect  the  marriage 
from  the  evils  apprehended.  So  at  the  very  commence- 
ment of  the  negociations  he  insisted  mainly  on  the  follow- 
ing four  conditions  : — (i)  The  Raja  must  acknowledge  in 
writing  that  he  is  a  Brahmo  or  Theist.  (2)  The  mar- 
riage must  be  celebrated  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  that  is,  Hindu  rites  divested  of  idolatry, 
though  such  local  customs  might  be  supplemented  as 
were  unidolatrous.  (3)  The  marriage  is  to  be  celebrated 
when  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  attain  their  full 
majority.  But  if  it  could  not  be  deferred  till  then,  for 
the  present  there  might  be  a  formal  betrothal  only,  the 
due  consummation  of  the  marriage  being  put  off  until 
the  return  of  the  Maharaja  from  Europe,  whither,  it  was 
arranged,  he  should  proceed  immediately  after  the  mar- 
riage. (4)  All  the  Theistic  conditions  as  to  marriage 
rites  must  be  strictly  observed;  but  on  other  points, 
where  local  customs  of  a  simply  unreasonable  or  absurd 
nature  were  insisted  upon,  these  might  be  tolerated. 
These  conditions,  which  were  readily  acceded  to,  it 
would  be  seen,  met  all  the  important  objections  which 
the  protestors  raised.  As  for  the  difficulty  of  polygamy 
on  the  part  of  the  Raja,  no  fear  of  it  was  at  all  enter- 
tained, because  he  was  himself  an  enlightened  and  edu- 
cated Theist,  and  because  a  great  Christian  Government 
undertook  to  solemnize  the  marriage  on  his  behalf.  The 
marriage  was  fixed  to  take  place  on  the  6th  March. 
Government  assured  the  Brahmo  leader  that  though  the 
wedding  rites  were  to  be  performed,  the  marriage  was  to 
be  nothing  but  "  a  formal  betrothal/'  to  be  consummated 


ASSURANCES   BY  GOVERNMENT.  325 

after  the  Maharaja  returned  from  Europe,  and  the 
parties  attained  their  full  majority  ;  that  in  fact  even 
the  wedding  rites  would  have  been  deferred  till  then, 
but  as  the  Raja  must  proceed  to  England  to  complete 
his  education,  it  was  not  desirable,  for  political  reasons, 
to  let  him  go  on  such  a  distant  journey  unmarried. 
Keshub  was  also  assured  that  no  ceremonies  but  such 
as  were  thoroughly  expurgated  from  idolatry,  were  to 
be  allowed  at  the  marriage.  In  the  meantime  the 
Maharaja  in  the  presence  of  independent  witnesses 
signed  a  paper  declaring  that  he  was  a  Theist,  and 
every  arrangement  seemed  to  progress  satisfactorily. 
The  principal  pandit  of  the  Cuch  Behar  court  was  de- 
puted to  Calcutta  to  settle  in  detail  the  ceremonies  to  be 
adopted  at  the  time  of  marriage  in  consultation  with 
Keshub  himself,  and  the  pandits  on  his  side,  and  this 
part  of  the  negociations  was  also  gone  through  without 
any  difficulty.  The  arrangement  was  this.  There  was 
to  be  a  Brahmo  Divine  service  ;  a  few  essential  Brahmo 
rites  such  as  "  consent  "  [sammati),  "  marriage  vows  " 
[tidvaha  Pratijna\  and  prayer  (prarthana) ;  and  also  a 
few  Hindu  rites  minus  idolatry.  These  rites,  however, 
and  the  accompanying  Sanskrit  recitations  {mantras) 
were  to  be  settled  beforehand.  A  description  of  the 
rites  was  subsequently  printed,  and  each  party  had  a 
copy  to  be  used  at  the  time  of  the  wedding.  To  this 
was  attached  a  supplementary  sheet  distinctly  stipulat- 
ing (1)  that  neither  the  bridegroom  nor  the  bride  was 
to  take  part  in  any  idolatrous  ceremony  before,  during, 
or  after   the   marriage ;  (2)    at   the   place   of  marriage 


326  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

no  god  or  goddess,  no  fire,  no  ghat  (sacred  vessel) 
was  to  be  kept ;  (3)  those  mantras  (recitations)  only 
which  were  printed  on  the  program  of  the  marriage 
ritual  could  be  read,  no  other  mantras  could  be  allowed  ; 
and  (4)  no  part  of  the  mantras  could  be  omitted  or 
modified.  This  was  making  assurance  doubly  sure, 
and  as  both  the  agent  of  the  Government,  and 
the  deputed  chief  pandit  from  Cuch  Behar,  cordially 
consented  to  the  settlement,  every  fear  in  Keshub's 
mind  was  set  at  rest.  The  bridegroom  and  bride  had 
more  than  one  interview,  natural  feelings  of  affection 
sprang  up  ;  morally  and  materially  the  marriage  was  a 
certainty.  The  opponents  of  the  marriage,  however, 
kept  energetically  repeating  their  objections,  and  pre- 
dicting the  defeat  of  Brahmo  Somaj  principles  at  the 
time  of  the  celebration.  The  settlement  of  rites  took 
place  about  the  i2St  February ;  the  chief  pandit  and  the 
Maharaja  departed  for  Cuch  Behar  with  the  paper  fully 
describing  them  on  the  22nd  ;  and  BabuKeshub  Chunder 
Sen,  with  his  daughter  and  friends,  was  preparing  to 
leave  Calcutta  on  Monday  the  25th.  On  Saturday  night, 
however,  a  telegram  came  from  Cuch  Behar  to  the  effect 
that  Brahmo  ceremonies  had  been  introduced  into 
the  marriage  ritual,  and  this  would  not  be  allowed. 
Another  message  to  the  same  purport  came  a  short  time 
before  the  bride's  party  left  for  Cuch  Behar  on  the  25th. 
Keshub  despatched  a  protest  against  these  messages, 
drawing  attention  to  the  marriage  conditions  previously 
settled  in  consultation  both  with  the  accredited  agents 
of  the  Cuch  Behar  Raj,  and  the  Government  of  Bengal. 


FIRST  MISGIVINGS.  327 

But  misgivings  were  for  the  first  time  felt,    and    an   in- 
quiry was   made  whether  the  special  train  by  which  the 
bridal  party  was  to  leave  for  Cuch  Behar   could   not   be 
stopped.     No,    it   could    not  be.     And  Keshub  left  Cal- 
cutta with  his  daughter  and  friends  on  the  25th  Febru- 
ary.    Why  did  he  do  this  in   the  face  of  the  unfavor- 
able messages  and  misgivings  ?     Another  man  with  a 
deeper  experience  of  the  ways   of  Native    States,    and 
official    irregularities,    would    not    perhaps   have   ven- 
tured into  the  enemy's  camp  so  precipitately ;  Keshub's 
great    natural    sagacity    ought   to   have    warned    and 
deterred  him.     Unfortunately  it  must  be  added  Keshub 
did  not   act   sagaciously  here.     But  there  was  one  trait 
of  his  nature  his  critics  never  cared  to  recognize.     Where 
he   discerned   the  purpose  of  Providence,    this   seer  of 
human   nature,  this  shrewd  careful  man  became  supple 
and   submissive   like   a  child,  and  his  faith  in  every  one 
who  took  part  in  that   purpose   became    unquestioning. 
From  the  beginning,  Keshub  had  seen  the  hand  of  God 
in   this    affair.     "  The    spontaneity    of  the  Government 
offer"  he  wrote,  "  and  its  wholly  unexpected  character, 
the  prospect   of  influencing  for  good  a  large  population, 
an  entire  Native  State,  mutual  approval   of  the  parties, 
the   noble    character    of  the  Maharaja,  all  serve  to  con- 
firm   my   conviction    that   the    match   was  really  provi- 
dential.'"    It  is,  we  personally  know,  true  that  though  his 
daughter   was    growing   up,    he   had    never  made   any 
attempt  to  seek  a  match  ;  that  the  present  offer  came  to 
him  entirely  unsolicited  ;  that  when  for  a  while  it  seemed 
to  break  off  he  never  cared  for  its  renewal.     When   Go- 


328  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

vernment  pressed  it  again,  for  weeks  together  he  would 
not  make  any  definite  reply,  so  that  his  protracted  hesi- 
tation caused  great  impatience  to  the  official  deputed 
by  the  authorities  to  secure  his  consent.  He  was  con- 
stantly communing  with  his  conscience  (we  know  con- 
science at  all  times  meant  with  him  the  Voice  of  God) 
whether  or  not  to  give  his  sanction.  When  after  all  he 
got  the  response  he  waited  for,  he  unreservedly  expressed 
his  agreement  in  the  proposal,  likewise  putting  his  faith 
in  the  agencies  employed  to  carry  it  out.  Relying 
therefore  upon  the  repeated  assurances  given  by  the 
Government,  upon  the  purity  of  his  own  motives,  upon 
the  righteousness  of  the  cause,  and  upon  the  approval 
of  the  Inner  Voice,  he  left  for  Cuch  Behar,  against  the 
warnings  of  worldly  prudence.  If  the  telegraphic 
messages  had  created  misgivings,  the  reception  of  the 
bridal  party  at  Cuch  Behar  confirmed  them.  They  were 
coldly  and  informally  received,  and  when  the  question 
of  ceremonies  was  raised  for  discussion,  no  one  paid  any 
attention  to  it.  The  Cuch  Behar  authorities  apparently 
felt  that  once  entrapped  into  their  metropolis  Babu  Ke- 
shub  Chunder  Sen  was  at  their  mercy.  The  marriage 
had  been  appointed  to  take  place  on  Wednesday,  the  6th 
March.  On  Monday  the  4th,  a  number  of  persons, 
deputed  for  the  purpose,  came  to  the  bridal  quarters, 
and  proposed  material  alterations  in  the  marriage  rites 
settled  before,  which  greatly  astonished  Keshub  and  his 
friends.  There  was  a  strong  and  painful  controversy, 
Of  course  he  stoutly  declined  to  accede  to  the  now 
proposals,       (  )n     Tuesday    a    certain    ceremony     called 


SERIOUS   DIFFICULTIES.  329 

Adhibas  was  to  be  performed  which  required  the  removal 
of  the  bride  into  the  palace.  This  also  meant  that 
Keshub's  daughter  was  to  be  kept  in  the  custody  of 
the  palace  authorities  until  the  actual  marriage  cere- 
monies were  performed  on  the  next  day.  Keshub  un- 
fortunately gave  his  consent  to  the  arrangement  which 
involved  him  still  further,  and  put  him  almost  entirely 
in  the  power  of  the  Cuch  Behar  officials.  The  question 
again  comes  why  he  consented  to  part  with  his 
daughter  when  he  knew  the  marriage  rites  were  the 
subject  of  bitter  dispute  ?  His  faith  only  must  answer 
that  question.  He  believed  that  morally  the  marriage 
had  already  taken  place  when  the  boy  and  the  girl 
elected  one  another  as  husband  and  wife  after  repeated 
interviews  ;  when  presents  were  exchanged  ;  when  the 
bond  of  betrothal  was  written  out ;  when  all  the  pro- 
minent men  of  Calcutta  society  were  invited,  and 
came  to  bless  the  would-be  bridegroom  and  bride. 
He  fervently  believed  also  that  the  representatives 
of  the  British  Government  could  never  deceive  him. 
It  is  indeed  true  that  when  the  marriage  proposals  in 
their  altered  form  came  to  him  in  Cuch  Behar,  he  was 
astounded,  and  his  mind  was  disabused  of  a  good 
deal  of  its  misplaced  confidence.  But  nevertheless 
he  hoped  against  hope,  obstinately  trusted  that  all 
would  be  right  in  the  end,  and  under  the  impulse  of 
that  hope  and  trust  did  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty 
at  the  time.  He  struggled  hard  at  every  point  when 
the  difficulties  arose,  but  did  not  succeed  to  the  extent 
he  expected,  because  the  odds  were  too  great  against 
42 


330  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

him.  The  circumstances  under  which  he  had  allow- 
ed himself  to  be  placed,  continually  robbed  him  more 
and  more  of  the  power  of  resistance.  He  felt  he 
had  been  caught  in  a  snare,  and  it  was  too  late  to 
retrieve  his  position  wholly.  He  tried  to  make  the  best 
of  a  bad  case.  In  the  midst  of  these  mental  con- 
flicts at  last  the  marriage  day  arrived.  Nothing 
about  the  rites  had  yet  been  settled.  The  ladies 
of  the  Cuch  Behar  palace  insisted  that  the  ceremony 
of  Horn  (fire-worship)  should  be  performed,  that  no 
Brahmo  service  at  the  scene  of  marriage  was  to 
be  allowed,  that  no  marriage  vows  should  be  taken, 
and  that  non-Brahmins,  including  even  Keshub  him- 
self, should  be  excluded  from  the  place  of  marriage. 
Keshub  of  course  could  never  accede  to  these  conditions, 
so  hour  after  hour  was  spent  in  fruitless  disputations, 
and  nobody  knew  what  the  result  of  it  was  to  be, 
whether  indeed  the  marriage  was  going  to  take  place  at 
all,  till  at  about  midnight  the  concession  was  made  that 
the  bride  s  party  only  should  take  no  part  in  idolatrous 
ceremonies.  Keshub  was  in  a  state  so  unusual  with 
him,  so  absolutely  helpless,  so  abjectly  despondent 
during  these  hours,  that  he  at  once  and  eagerly 
accepted  this  concession  as  far  as  it  went,  and  seemed 
content  to  escape  barely  with  the  observance  of  his 
principles.  But  he  was  little  prepared  for  what 
awaited  him  at  the  scene  of  marriage.  The  sacred 
vessels,  ghalsy  which  he  had  tried  to  exclude  by  his 
supplementary  conditions,  were  there  ;  and  even  two 
still  more   obnoxious    symbols   were   there.     Of  course 


THE    SCENE   OF   MARRIAGE.  33 1 

these  were  not  worshipped,  nor  meant  for  worship,  but 
their  presence  was  not  agreeable  to  Theistic  eyes. 
Protests  were  made,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  Brahmo 
service  when  attempted,  was  drowned  by  the  deafening 
peal  of  innumerable  tomtoms.  Keshub  and  non- 
Brahmin  priests  on  his  side  were,  however,  allowed  to 
preside  over  the  ceremonies.  The  marriage  vows  were 
not  allowed  to  be  taken  at  the  scene  of  the  marriage,  but 
were  taken  afterwards.  Horn  or  the  ceremony  of  fire- 
worship  was  not  performed  by  Keshub's  daughter,  but  by 
the  Maharaja.  The  Theistic  character  of  the  marriage 
was  very  much  marred,  almost  every  Brahmo  present 
was  deeply  mortified.  But  there  was  some  comfort  in 
the  thought  that  the  Hindu  character  of  the  marriage, 
the  character  which  the  officials  meant  to  give  it, 
was  also  gone.  The  presence  of  non-Brahmin  priests 
officiating  at  the  ceremony  was  surely  un-Hindu  ;  the 
bride  leaving  the  scene  at  the  time  of  the  worship  of  fire 
was  equally  un-Hindu.  The  fact  is  the  marriage,  as  it 
was  managed,  gave  satisfaction  to  no  party,  neither  to 
the  friends  of  the  Cuch  Behar  family,  nor  to  the  friends 
of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  The  Deputy  Commissioner 
of  Cuch  Behar,  nevertheless,  as  representative  of  the 
British  Government,  wrote  to  the  papers  declaring  the 
marriage  to  be  a  Hindu  marriage.  Though  unwar- 
ranted by  facts,  this  was  an  official  report,  and  the 
public  in  general  accepted  it  as  such.  The  Maha- 
raja's people  in  securing  an  eligible  and  high-caste 
bride,  however,  soon  forgot  their  embarrassment.  As 
for  Keshub,  his  position  already  compromised,  his  real 


332  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEX. 

troubles  began  after  the  marriage  was  over.  Never  in 
his  life  had  he  been  so  discomfited  and  outwitted  before. 
He  could  not  but  feel  that  even  many  of  his  dearest 
friends  were  most  seriously  offended.  The  pathos  and 
pain  of  his  appeals  to  Heaven  on  the  next  morning  were 
most  piercing.  The  only  party  who  exulted  at  these  un- 
fortunate results  were  Keshub's  opponents  in  the 
Brahmo  Somaj.  Their  evil  predictions  were  partly 
fulfilled,  and  they  made  many  more  predictions  of  the 
same  kind.  They  exaggerated  and  caricatured  what 
had  actually  taken  place,  they  invented  things  which 
had  never  taken  place,  and  the  bitterness  and  violence 
with  which  some  of  them  assailed  Keshub's  motives 
was  simply  disgraceful.  A  large  number  of  protest- 
ing Brahmos  in  Calcutta  called  for  public  meetings  to 
expel  Keshub  from  his  position  as  Secretary  to  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  and  as  Minister  to  the 
Brahma  Mandir.  To  a  nature  so  sensitive  and  self- 
conscious  as  that  of  Keshub,  such  proposals  carried  a 
poignance  of  pain  that  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described.  Though  counter-requisitions  from  his  own 
friends  demanded  that  no  meeting  of  the  kind  should 
be  held,  Keshub  judged  it  best  after  considerable 
hesitation  to  call  a  public  meeting  to  consider  the 
question  of  his  deposition.  A  meeting  of  the  con- 
gregation was  accordingly  called  on  March  21st, 
Thursday,  to  elect  a  new  minister.  The  proceed- 
ings were  violent,  disorderly,  almost  riotous,  and 
Keshub's  opponents  went  away  with  the  impression 
that  they  had  carried  their  point.     His  friends,  however, 


ATTEMPTS   AT   PUBLIC    CENSURE.  333 

went  away  with  a  different  impression,  namely,  that  no 
resolution  could  be  arrived  at  amidst  the  hopeless  dis- 
order of  the  proceedings  from  which  they  retired   in   a 
body.     Nevertheless   the   Minister  thought   that   when 
any  number  of  the  members   of   the  congregation   did 
not  want  his  ministrations,  and  considered  him  morally 
unworthy,    he   should    vacate    his    post.     With    great 
agony   of    mind   therefore,    he   expressed  his   wish    to 
resign,    but    so    many     worshippers     of    the     Mandir 
insisted   upon    his   retaining   his    place,    that    he    was 
obliged  to  reconsider  his  decision,  and  continue  in  the 
ministry.     The    Sunday   following    witnessed    another 
disgraceful  scene.     Under  the  impression  that  they  had 
lawfully   deposed  the  present    minister   and    secretary, 
Keshub's  opponents  thought  they  had   a  right  to  take 
possession    of   the    building   of    the  Brahma   Mandir. 
They  therefore  concerted  a  plan  of  going  in  a  body  on 
Sunday  morning,  and  of  making  themselves  the  masters 
of  the  premises.     Keshub  and  his  friends,  however,  had 
got  an  intimation  of  these  wishes  beforehand,  and  sta- 
tioned  a  number   of    their  adherents   on   the  Brahma 
Mandir  building,  who,  as  soon   as  the  protesting  party 
appeared  in  view,  sent  for  the    assistance   of  the  Police 
who  drove  away  the  assailants.     The  whole  day,  and  up 
to  late  in  the  night  these   obnoxious  tactics   had   to  be 
kept  up  on  both  sides,    till   the  protestors,  tired  out  by 
the  persistent  opposition,   left  the  field  in  despair  and 
disgust.     This  made  both  sides  wild  and    reckless,    and 
the  vilifications   were  worse  than  before.     The  protest- 
ing Brahmos  established  a  rival*  prayer-meeting  in  the 


334  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

neighbourhood,  and  the  next  serious  step  they  medi- 
tated was  the  organization  of  a  new  Brahmo  Somaj 
with  an  impersonal  constitution,  in  which  no  single 
individual  should  have  any  supreme  ascendancy.  For 
this  purpose  they  convened  a  public  meeting  in  the 
Town  Hall  on  the  14th  May.  Keshub  felt  this  would  be 
a  dangerous  step,  as  it  would  necessitate  another  schism 
in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  the  consequences  of  which  it  was 
impossible  to  foresee.  He  caused  a  calm  and  thought- 
ful remonstrance  to  be  written,  showing  the  universa- 
lity of  catholic  Theism,  and  the  all-comprehensive  and 
progressive  constitution  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India. 
"  The  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India/'  it  was  said,  "  is  an  all 
inclusive  church,  which  excludes  none  because  of 
immaterial  differences  of  opinion,  even  the  '  conserva- 
tive '  section  of  the  Brahmo  community  belonging  to 
the  Calcutta  Somaj  is  included  in  its  wider  organiza- 
tion. It  comprises  in  its  comprehensive  membership 
the  widest  diversities  of  opinion  and  belief,  extreme 
conservatism  and  extreme  radicalism,  the  Hindu  mo- 
notheist  and  the  English  theist.  Should  any  body  of  its 
members  on  any  plea,  however  plausible,  attempt  to 
secede  and  form  a  sect,  they  will  nevertheless  be 
regarded  by  the  parent  Somaj  as  still  forming  a  part  of 
the  body  corporate,  and  their  differences  will  be  tolerated 
without  reservation,  and  their  independence  fully  res- 
pected. A  schism,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  in 
the  sense  of  sectarian  exclusiveness,  in  the  sense  of 
doctrinal  disunion,  is  a  moral  impossibility  in  the  pre- 
sent  case."     No   attention    was,  however,  paid  to   the 


ESTABLISHMENT   OF  THE   SADHARAN   SOMAJ.       335 

remonstrance,  and  the  Sadharan  Somaj  was  formally 
organized.  In  the  meantime  ill-feelings  were  every  day 
becoming  more  intense.  Scurrilous  and  filthy  pam- 
phlets were  published  reflecting  grossly  upon  the  moral 
character  of  the  Brahmo  leaders  and  their  families  ; 
Keshub's  enemies  even  went  so  far  as  to  write  anony- 
mous letters  to  the  Government  authorities  accusing  him 
of  misappropriating  the  funds  of  the  Cuch  Behar 
treasury.  Police  detectives  were  set  upon  his  track,  but 
these  men  reported  to  their  heads,  after  careful  and 
secret  inquiry,  that  the  charges  were  unfounded. 

Keshub  was  exceedingly  calm  under  these  persecu- 
tions. He  often  said  that  posterity  would  do  him 
justice.  What  justice  then  may  he  expect  from 
posterity  ?  In  the  first  place  this.  His  motives  were 
beyond  any  impulse  of  worldly  ambition ;  his  whole  pre- 
vious and  subsequent  character  has  belied  such  a 
supposition.  He  undoubtedly  foresaw  his  daughter's 
position  and  prosperity,  but  that  consideration  alone 
never  influenced  him.  He  foresaw  also  the  prospects 
which  such  an  alliance  would  open  to  the  public  cause 
he  advocated.  The  assurances  from  a  great  Govern- 
ment which  guaranteed  the  Theistic  character  of  the 
marriage  were  such  as  he  was  bound  to  accept.  An 
independent  Native  prince  joining  the  Brahmo  Somaj, 
what  beneficent  effects  might  not  that  produce  among 
the  thousands  under  his  rule  !  But  above  every  such 
calculation  was  the  voice  of  his  Conscience,  which 
to  him  was  the  veritable  Commandment  of  God.  That 
those  assurances  were  not  fully  kept  was  a  misfortune, 


,6  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CIIUXDER    SEN. 

and  though  the  misfortune  seemed  to  cast  a  shadow 
upon  his  conduct,  Keshub's  motives  to  any  one  who 
would  examine  them  closely,  were  pure  and  honorable 
from  beginning  to  end.  Certainly  the  Cuch  Behar  mar- 
riage was  not  a  model  Brahmo  marriage.  Keshub  never 
claimed  that  credit  for  it.  All  that  he  claimed  was 
the  marriage  was  suffered  to  take  place  under  ex- 
ceptional circumstances,  throughout  which  he  ear- 
nestly struggled  to  do  his  duty.  It  would  un- 
doubtedly have  been  better  if  his  daughter  had  not  gone 
through  these  nominal  marriage  ceremonies  till  she 
had  completed  her  fourteenth  year,  the  minimum  mar- 
riageable age  for  Brahmo  girls,  but  the  moral  condition 
of  this  custom  was  most  strictly  and  faithfully  kept  on 
both  sides,  and  the  marriage  was  observed  as  nothing 
but  "  a  formal  betrothal/'  till  its  consummation  three 
years  later,  on  the  20th  October,  1880,  before  a  large  and 
mixed  assembly  in  the  Brahma  Mandir.  Up  to  this  time, 
Keshub's  daughter  lived  in  his  house  as  she  had  done 
before  the  6th  March,  1878.  It  would  have  been  better 
if  the  marriage  had  been  celebrated  under  the  Act  III 
of  1872.  But  that  was  impossible  because  the  Maharaja 
was  an  independent  ruler,  and  in  his  territories  this  law 
would  not  be  binding.  Its  moral  provision,  so  far  as  the 
prevention  of  child  marriage  was  concerned,  was  in  spirit 
and  performance  rigidly  respected.  Its  formal  and 
literal  rejection  was  necessitated  by  circumstances 
which  carry  their  own  justification,  though  even  for  this 
formal  irregularity  Keshub  suffered  very  much  more  than 
was  his  due.    That  the  Maharaja  is  a  Brahmo,  an  edu- 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  THE  MARRIAGE  REVIEWED.       337 

cated,  high-principled  gentleman,  has  been  sufficient- 
ly proved  during  all  these  years,  and  that  Babu  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen's  daughter,  speaking  personally,  could  not 
have  been  better  married  than  to  him  is  now  a  matter  be- 
yond doubt.  If  the  marriage  rites  had  been  allowed  to 
be  as  pure  and  irreproachable  as  Keshub  wanted  and 
stipulated  for,  the  real  character  of  the  alliance  would 
have  come  out  much  better.  But  the  Cuch  Behar  offi- 
cials after  making  all  the  arrangements  they  could  to 
conciliate  the  principles  of  Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen, 
discovered  they  had  gone  too  far,  and  then  at  the 
eleventh  hour  attempted  to  impress  an  orthodox 
Hindu  character  upon  the  transaction.  The  irregulari- 
ties caused  by  such  conduct,  which,  under  the  circum- 
stances wherein  he  had  placed  himself,  Keshub  was 
powerless  to  check,  gave  a  questionable  aspect  to  the 
entire  marriage.  How  far  Keshub  consciously  par- 
ticipated in  these  irregularities,  or  tolerated  them,  or 
relaxed  any  effort  even  to  the  last  moment  to  combat 
them,  is  the  question  which  really  concerns  his  reputation. 
It  is  ridiculous  to  imagine  that  he  could  control  the  other 
party  ;  but  on  his  own  side  he  did  his  best  to  keep  his 
ideal  untainted.  If  that  is  conceded,  his  memory  is 
vindicated  sufficiently.  The  deficiencies  of  the  marriage 
were  admitted  by  himself  and  his  Church.  All  the  rest 
lies  in  the  hands  of  the  illustrious  couple,  to  effect  whose 
union  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  sacrificed  a  good  deal  of 
what  was  dearest  and  most  precious  to  him  on  earth, 
perhaps  even  his  life  itself.  He  had  warm  anticipations, 
and  enthusiastic  hopes  of  the  results  of  this  providential 
43 


338  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

alliance.  He  strained  every  energy  of  his  overworked 
life  to  ward  off  its  predicted  evils,  to  make  it  a  blessing 
to  his  Church  and  his  nation.  And  now  that  he  has 
sunk  under  these  efforts,  let  us  hope  and  trust  the  Ma- 
haraja and  Maharani  will  co-operate  to  make  his  hopes 
a  reality.  Already  have  they  shown  an  unmistakable 
will  to  make  their  union  a  blessing  to  the  land.  A 
Church  of  the  New  Dispensation  has  been  inaugurated 
in  Cuch  Behar,  and  a  resident  Brahmo  Missionary  has 
been  retained.  A  College  for  Native  ladies  has  been 
established  in  Calcutta  by  the  Maharani  who  takes 
great  personal  interest  in  it.  His  Highness  the  Maharaja 
has  established  on  a  permanent  footing  the  India  Club, 
the  most  successful  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  land, 
where  Native  gentlemen  of  all  classes  enjoy  enlightened 
social  intercourse  with  each  other,  and  sometimes  with 
the  ruling  race  also.  Institutions  of  public  usefulness 
like  these,  sure  to  be  followed  by  many  more,  prove 
every  day  that  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage,  somewhat 
imperfect  in  its  mode  of  celebration,  was  appointed  and 
consummated  in  the  wisdom  of  that  Providence  who, 
through  great  events,  perfects  the  destiny  of  lands  and 
nations. 


\\q 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  NEW  DISPENSATION. 

Its  Purposes,  Doctrines,  and  Ceremonies, 

1879-1883. 

HE    cruel   persecutions  which   followed   Keshub  as 
*    the  immediate  results  of  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage 
in  1878,  produced  a  depression  of  mind  which   he   did 
not   care   to   express.     But   it  preyed    upon  his  spirits 
none  the  less,  so  that  towards  autumn  of  the  same  year 
he  fell  violently  ill,  so  much  so  that  we  became  seriously 
alarmed  about  his  life.     In   the   delirium    of  the    brain 
fever  which  prostrated  him,  he  talked  wildly  of  the  dan- 
gers to  his  Church,  the  bitter  animosities  and   ill-treat- 
ments which  dogged  him,  and  there  was  no  doubt   that 
both   physically  and  mentally  he  was  pierced  with  pain 
at  the  conduct  of  those   who   had   deserted  him.     But 
with   careful   treatment,   river  tours,   and    a   suburban 
change,  he  soon   rallied.     And   with   returning   health 
his   spirits    and  courage  came  back  with  renewed  vigor* 
While  still  in   a   state   of  convalescence   he   permitted 
himself  to   be   led  into  long  and  exciting  conversations 
on  the   future   of  Indian   Theism,    as  affected   by   the 
establishment  of  the  Sadharan  Somaj,   and  the  dissen- 
sions which  followed   that   event.     One   evening  while 
Keshub   lay   in  bed,  and  we  had  proceeded  far  into  the 
excitement  of  such  a  talk,  he  suddenly  got  up   and   said 
there   must   be   a   great   and  unprecedented  Revival,  if 
the  Brahmo  Somaj  is  to   tide   over   the   present  crisis. 


340  LIFE   OF   KESHUB    CHUXDER    SEN. 

In  devotions,  disciplines,  doctrines,  and  missionary 
activities,  there  should  be  introduced,  all  along  the  line, 
such  a  spirit  of  Revival  as  had  never  yet  been  seen. 
We  all  concurred  in  the  idea,  but  we  did  not  perceive 
that  what  Keshub  said  was  the  result  of  long  intense 
premeditation,  and  much  earnest  prayer,  that  it  boded  a 
kind  of  activity  for  which  no  one  was  prepared. 

The  grand  idea  that  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  was  a  New  Dispensation  of  God  to  India  had 
forcibly  occurred  to  him  already  with  much  inner  light. 
In  successive  sermons  to  his  congregation  in  1874,  and 
even  earlier,  he  had  elucidated  the  principles  by  which 
Providence  made  such  revelations  to  different  ages  and 
races.  These  he  summed  up  in  his  anniversary  sermon  in 
1875  on  "  Behold  the  Light  of  Heaven  in  India."  "  The 
light  of  a  New  Dispensation/'  said  he,  "  is  vouchsafed 
by  Providence  for  India's  salvation.  He  defined  a 
Dispensation  to  mean  "  God's  saving  mercy  adapting 
itself  in  a  special  manner  to  the  requirements  of 
special  epochs  in  the  world's  history.  True  it  is  the 
Universal  Father  loves  all  His  children  alike,  but  He 
does  not  deal  with  all  of  them  alike.  In  various  ways 
does  He  deal   with  different  nations,  communities,  and 

individuals  to  bring  about  their  salvation How 

strikingly  had  the  Lord  been  dealing  with  our  degraded 
nation  during  the  last  hundred  years,  and  adopting 
marvellous  means  and  agencies  to  elevate  its  social 
and  moral  condition.  They  constitute  therefore  a 
special  Dispensation  of  mercy  to  the  Indian  race. 
These  special  dispensations  of  Providence  differ  accord- 


BEGINNINGS   OF  THE   NEW  DISPENSATION.  34 1 

ing  to  the  peculiarities  of  each  race,  but  they  never  jar 
with  each  other.     They  cannot  clash  though  apparently 

dissimilar What  I  accept  as  New  Dispensation  in 

India  neither  shuts  out  God's  light  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  nor  does  it  run  counter  to  any  of  those  marvel- 
lous dispensations  of  His  mercy  which  were  made  in 
ancient  times."  "  The  light  of  heaven,"  he  concludes 
"  has  dawned  upon  our  fatherland.  May  we  labour 
and  pray  so  that  the  light  may  shine  brighter  and 
brighter  unto  the  perfect  day,  and  bring  joy,  and  peace, 
and  salvation  into  the  homes  of  all  men  in  this  land." 
Now  he  meditated  to  make  this  Light  of  Heaven  the 
guide  in  the  onward  path  of  his  drooping  Church.  In 
January  1876,  he  said  "I  plainly  tell  you  we  do  not 
mean  to  stand  where  we  are.  What  the  Lord  will 
reveal  to  us  ten  years  hence  who  knows  save  He  ?" 
And  in  two  years  more  it  was  revealed  to  him  to  take 
his  stand  upon  the  truth  that  the  Theism  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  both  in  its  past  history,  and  future  prospect,  was 
the  New  Dispensation  of  God  in  India.  All  the  cul- 
tures, disciplines,  classifications,  and  growths  through 
which  his  movement  had  passed  for  the  last  twelve 
years  had  confirmed  this  conviction  in  his  mind.  He 
had  secretly  felt  this  for  a  long  time,  he  had  directly 
or  indirectly  expressed  it  to  his  friends,  but  hitherto 
he  thought  the  time  had  not  come  to  give  public  utter- 
ance to  it.  The  rigor  of  persecution  and  the  wide 
divisions  which  followed  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage  made 
him  feel  that  the  time  had  now  come  when  he  should 
make  a  full  avowal  of  his   long-cherished  belief.     This 


3|2  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CIIUNDER   SEN. 

Theism  then,  which,  under  his  leadership,  had  developed 
itself  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  was  to  his  mind  the  Divine 
Dispensation  of  the  age,  and  must  bring  about  a  com- 
plete revival  of  social  and  spiritual  life  in  modern  India. 
When  therefore  Keshub  spoke  of  a  Revival  in  1878 
he  meant  a  further  advance,  a  greater  advance  than 
had  been  ever  made  before,  on  the  lines  of  a  new 
revelation,  a  new  life,  altogether  a  new  departure.  He 
felt  that  the  tendency  of  a  large  body  of  men  in  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  had  been  for  a  long  time  to  dissociate 
themselves  from  him.  These  wrere  now  chiefly  the 
protesting  Brahmos  who  judged  his  conduct  and  his 
principles  in  relation  to  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage  in 
a  hostile  hypercritical  spirit.  He  felt  he  had  completely 
failed  to  carry  the  whole  Brahmo  Somaj  with  him  in 
this  matter.  And  he  determined  to  give  his  part  of 
the  movement  an  unprecedented  character  by  accentua- 
ting, and  fully  bringing  out  the  principles  of  faith  and 
culture,  which  had  been  pursued  by  him  and  his  friends 
for  many  years  previously.  He  felt  perfectly  well  as- 
sured that  the  higher  truths  and  spiritualities  upon 
which  he  had  lived,  and  tried  to  make  his  followers  live, 
would  in  the  end  leaven  the  whole  Brahmo  Somaj,  and 
the  Revival  which  he  contemplated,  would  in  time  be 
the  regeneration  of  the  entire  Theistic  Church  of  India. 
And  thus  henceforth  the  idea  of  the  New  Dispensation 
became  the  burden  of  all  his  teaching  and  action. 
Keshub  of  late  had  not  been  very  fond  of  the  name 
Brahmo  Somaj.  Inasmuch  as  he  felt  his  faith  to  be 
new,   he   did   not   care   whether  he  retained  or  gave  up 


PURPOSES   OF  THE  NEW   DISPENSATION.  343 

the  old  name,  though  perhaps  historically  he  felt  its 
importance.  "  The  Brahmo  name/'  says  he  in  his 
lecture  on  Our  Faith  and  Experiences  in  1876,  "is 
perfectly  immaterial.  Verily  there  is  no  fascination  in 
that  name.  I  myself  would  at  this  very  moment  dis- 
claim it,  if  necessary."  In  fact  Keshub  felt  his  move- 
ment was  a  development  from  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 
Though  never  objecting  to  retain  that  name  he  meant 
to  characterize  his  church  as  the  Church  of  the  New 
Dispensation. 

The  various  developments  that  crowded  into  the 
history  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  since  1879  under 
the  name  of  the  New  Dispensation,  did  not  in  any 
sense  disturb  the  continuity  of  the  principles  which  had 
for  more  than  a  decade,  characterized  the  Theistic 
movement  as  led  by  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  The  pur- 
poses of  his  Church  remained  unaltered,  only  the 
methods  taken  to  carry  out  those  purposes,  and  the 
impulses  that  suggested  those  methods,  changed  consi- 
derably. We  have  repeatedly  tried  to  show  that  Ke- 
shub's  object  from  the  time  he  joined  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  was  to  find,  and  to  preach  "  a  religion  of  life." 
The  very  first  principle  of  this  religion  of  life  was  the 
acceptance  of  a  living  God,  and  living  relations  with 
him.  "  The  Lord  is  in  our  midst,"  says  he,  u  not  as  a 
dead  Deity,  but  as  a  living  God  of  Providence."  "  Here 
you  see  God's  special  providence  working  out  the  re- 
demption of  the  land,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
a  complete  dispensation,  with  its  full  complement  of 
apostles,    scriptures,    and   inspiration."      His   primary 


344  LIFE    0F   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

purpose,  therefore,  was  that  his  Church  should  acquire 
the  highest  order  of  spiritual  relations  with  the  "  living 
God  of  Providence,5' and  be  filled  and  guided  by  His 
breath  in  every  duty,  and  in  every  undertaking.  With 
this  view  he  had  introduced  the  Brahmotsab  or  devo- 
tional festival  in  1867  ;  with  this  view  he  had  intro- 
duced the  Yoga  and  Bhakti  developments  in  1876;  for 
this  purpose  he  had  insisted  so  strongly  upon  the 
doctrines  which  will  be  presently  explained.  He  felt 
at  this  time  he  had  a  most  important  duty  to  perform, 
namely,  to  interpret  his  sublime  faith  to  his  nation,  to 
the  masses  of  the  great  community  that  looked  up  to 
him  for  teaching  and  guidance.  He  felt  he  must 
establish  a  National  Religion. 

His  next  purpose,  almost  equally  important,  was  the 
formation  of  apostolic  standards  of  moral  and  devotional 
life.  Upon  himself  and  his  immediate  disciples  he  looked 
as  the  medium  through  which  the  special  ideas  of  his 
divine  doctrine  should  find  utterance  among  the  people. 
With  this  view  he  had  established  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
Mission  Office  in  1866,  and  elaborated  the  rules  of  a 
life  of  strict  self-sacrifice  and  faith,  every  one  of  which 
he  had  practically  followed  himself,  and  meant  his  as- 
sociates to  follow.  He  rigidly  adhered  to  the  precept 
of  "  think  not  for  the  morrow  ;  "  he  boldly  preached  the 
doctrine  of  asceticism  against  every  unpopularity  ;  he 
took  himself,  and  encouraged  others  to  take  the  vow  of 
personal  poverty.  He  never  hesitated  to  claim  on  his 
own  behalf,  and  on  behalf  of  the  apostles  of  his  Church, 
the  supreme  gift  of  Inspiration  in  the  general  and  special 


AN  APOSTOLIC   RELIGION.  $45 

duties  of  their  lives.  In  1871  he  founded  the  Bharat 
Asram  in  which  the  managers  and  leaders  of  the  in- 
stitution were  directed  in  every  detail  of  management 
to  wait  for  the  voice  of  God.  And  this  principle  of 
management  created  an  opposition  out  of  which  no 
end  of  trouble,  including  even  a  painful  lawsuit,  arose. 
In  1876  he  introduced  the  classification  of  devotees, 
each  order  of  whom  had  to  go  through  rigid  disciplines, 
and  adopt  primitive  regulations  about  eating,  cooking, 
sleeping,  clothes,  carpets,  and  various  other  details  of 
life.  We  have  described  their  occupations  in  the  little 
garden,  known  as  Sadhan  Kanan.  "  Look  at  these  help- 
less sculs,"  says  he  in  one  of  his  lectures,  "  with  their 
families,  men,  women,  children,  living  from  day  to  day, 
upon  mere  alms,  and  precarious  contributions.  They 
have  no  certain  means  of  subsistence  whereby  to  support 
themselves.  They  have  taken  the  vow  of  poverty,  which 
interdicts  money-making  and  self-support.  They  take 
no  thought  for  the  morrow,  what  they  shall  eat,  or 
what  they  shall  put  on.  The  Lord  gives  to  each  his 
daily  bread.  Each  day  brings  the  bare  necessaries  of 
life.  The  morrow  is  entirely  dark.  Indeed  it  is  a 
mystery  and  a  marvel  how  so  many  mouths  are  fed 
daily.  And  yet  for  fifteen  years  we  have  managed  to 
go  on,  not  stumbling,  not  starving ...  Verily  it  is  the 
living  Jehovah  who  feeds  us,  His  poor,  but  trusting 
apostles,  with  the  bread  of  life.  He  sustains  the  body, 
He  inspires  the  soul."  This  indeed  had  gone  on  for 
fifteen  years.  But  Keshub  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
to   raise   these   men   to  what  he  judged   their  natural 

44 


346  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

position,  as  the  lights  of  the  land,  the  city  set  on  a  hill 
that  can  not  be  hid.  He  meant  that  their  example, 
their  life,  their  devotions,  their  unity  and  mutual  love 
would  form  the  foundations  upon  which  to  build  this 
structure  of  the  new  religion  of  life,  this  future  national 
faith  of  "  The  New  Dispensation." 

In  the  third  place,  as  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India 
began  its  career  in  a  harmony  of  scriptures  by  publish- 
ing texts  from  the  sacred  books  of  all  religions  in  1866 
under  the  name  of  the  Sloka  Sangraha,  and  in  a  har- 
mony of  prophets  through  the  two  well-known  lectures 
by  the  leader  on  Jesus  Christ,  and  Great  Men,  so  in 
the  progress  of  that  Church  it  was  his  purpose  to  com- 
plete the  reconciliation  of  religions.  Eclecticism  had 
been  the  philosophy  and  faith  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  ever 
since  the  giving  up  of  the  Hindu  Scriptures  as  infallible 
about  the  year  1850.  Keshub  inherited  that  position 
when  he  entered  the  institution  ten  years  later,  and  did 
all  he  could  to  confirm  it  by  his  studies,  lectures,  labours, 
and  reforms.  But  in  spite  of  all  these  eclectic  profes- 
sions the  Brahmo  Somaj,  under  Devendra  Nath  Tagore, 
practically  retained  its  purely  Hindu  character.  When 
Keshub  started  on  his  independent  career  in  1866,  he 
not  only  determined  that  the  universality  of  modern 
Hindu  Theism  in  the  Brahmo  movement  should  be  a 
reality,  but  that  it  should  form  the  ground-work  of 
all  spiritual  culture  in  that  Church.  The  problems  of 
comparative  theology,  which  the  savants  of  the  West 
have  attempted  to  solve  during  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century  by  research  and  philosophy,  he  tried  to  solve 


A  UNIVERSAL  RELIGION.  347 

by  devotions,  meditation,  spiritual  discipline,  and  moral 
culture.  To  Keshub,  the  harmony  of  religions  was  the 
great  mission  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  The  whole  cause 
of  modern  Theism,  as  symbolized  by  the  Church  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  was  thus  described  by  him  in  the 
Flag-Ceremony  held  during  the  anniversary  festival  of 
1881.  "Behold  the  flag  of  the  New  Dispensation  !  The 
silken  flag  is  crimson  with  the  blood  of  martyrs.  It  is  the 
flag  of  the  Great  King  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  the  One 
Supreme  Lord..  .Behold  the  spirits  of  all  the  prophets 
and  saints  of  heaven  assembled  over  head,  a  holy  con 
fraternity  in  whose  union  is  the  harmony  of  faith,  hope, 
and  joy.  And  at  the  foot  of  the  holy  standard  are  the 
scriptures  of  the  Hindus,  Christians,  Mahomedans,  and 
Buddhists,  the  sacred  repositories  of  the  wisdom  of  ages, 
and  the  inspiration  of  saints,  our  light,  and  our  guide. 
Four  scriptures  are  here  united  in  blessed  harmony, 
under  the  shadow  of  this  flag.  Here  is  put  together  the 
international  fellowship  of  Asia,   Europe,  Africa,   and 

America Here  is  the  harmony  of  the   mind,  and  the 

heart,  the  soul,  and  the  will,  of  knowledge  and  love,  of 
devotion,  and  duty.  Glory  unto  God  in  the  highest ! 
Honor  to  all  prophets  and  saints  in  heaven,  and  to  all 
scriptures  on  earth !  Unto  the  New  Dispensation 
victory  !"  With  him  the  harmony  of  religions  meant 
the  harmony  of  doctrines,  of  scriptures,  of  prophets, 
and  of  cultures.  It  meant  a  common  faith  for  all  man- 
kind. His  object  was  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  Univer- 
sal Church  upon  the  ground  of  essential  unity  among  all 
religions. 


348  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

These  in  fact  were  the  chief  purposes  of  the  new 
revival,  purposes  which  had  at  all  times  inspired  the 
labours  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  But  eclecticism, 
whether  as  a  philosophy,  or  as  a  religion,  appeals  to 
the  mind  of  those  who  have  made  some  advancement 
in  intellectual  processes.  Keshub's  object  on  the  other 
hand,  was  that  the  ideal  of  his  Church  should  be  the 
personal  ideal  of  each  individual  member  of  his  com- 
munity. He  meant  that  the  New  Dispensation  should 
have  for  its  basis  not  merely  the  opinions,  but  in  a  much 
larger  measure  the  heart,  the  spirit,the  faith  and  character 
of  his  fellow-believers.  To  make  that  a  fact  he  began 
his  new  course  of  exertions. 

All  this,  it  will  be  readily  perceived,  brought  him 
face  to  face  with  tremendous  difficulties.  Was  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  into  which  he  had  entered  under  the 
leadership  of  Devendra  Nath  Tagore,  capable  of  re- 
presenting the  spiritual  instincts  and  aspirations  of  the 
great  people  of  India  ?  He  answered  in  the  negative. 
He  was  too  intensely  conscious  of  the  truth  of  the 
remark  that  no  metaphysical  religion  would  ever 
answer  the  religious  necessities  of  the  masses  of  the 
Indian  nation.  The  Brahmo  Somaj  was  not  a  popular 
church,  its  religion  was  not  a  national  religion,  and  its 
doctrines  and  devotions  were  not  calculated  to  interest 
and  emancipate  the  plain  orthodox  nature  of  the 
millions  of  the  uneducated.  What  must  they  have  for 
their  satisfaction  ?  Polytheism  and  idolatry  ?  No, 
monotheism  certainly,  but  so  presented,  so  symbo- 
lized, so  transformed  through  processes  of  imaginative 


A  NATIONAL  RELIGION.  349 

illustration,    that   the    people   might   naturally   feel   it 
to   be    akin   to    their   national   usages,    and    modes    of 
faith  and  worship.     Nor  did  he  want  that  the  religious 
food  thus  administered  should  be  the  product  of  Indian 
tradition  only.     The  future   Hindu   Church   must  com- 
bine in  itself  the  essence   of  the  teachings  of  the  East 
and  West  alike.     In  Keshub's  ideal  of  a  National  Church 
the  religion  of  Christ  composed  a  very  large  element, 
nay  more  than  half  the  substance.     He  meant  to  have 
a  National  Church  which  would  embody  in  itself  all  the 
principles  of  the  modern  life  of  the  people  of  India,  yet 
based  upon  a  simple  creed,  a  simple  ritual,  a  simple  law 
of  life.  In  his  lecture  on  the  Future  Church,  delivered  so 
early  as  1869,  after  speaking  of  the  simple  creed,  gospel, 
and  worship  of  such  a  Church,  he  concludes  thus  : — "  The 
future   church    of   India  must  be  thoroughly   national, 
the  future  religion  of  the    world  I  have  described  will 
be  a  common  religion  of  all  nations,  but  in  each  nation 
it  will  have  an  indigenous   growth,   and   assume   a   dis- 
tinctive  character.     All   mankind   will  unite  in  a  Uni- 
versal Church,  at  the  same  time  it  will    be  adapted  to 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  each  nation,  and  assume 
a  national  form.     No  country  will  borrow,    or  mechani- 
cally  imitate   the  religion   of   another  country.     India 
has   religious    customs,   and  traditions,   tastes,  and   as- 
sociations, peculiarly   sacred  and  dear  to  her,   and  it  is 
idle  to  expect  she  will  forego  these  ;  nay  she  cannot  do 
so,  as  they  are  interwoven  with  her  very  life.     We  shall 
see   that  the   future   church    is    not  thrust  upon  us,  but 
that  we  independently  and  naturally  grow  into  it ;  that 


350  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN. 

it  does  not  come  to  us  a  foreign  plant,  but  strikes  its 
root  deep  in  the  national  heart  of  India,  draws  its  sap 
from  our  national  resources,  and  develops  itself  with  all 
the  freshness  and  vigour  of  indigenous  growth.  There 
shall  in  short  be  unity  of  spirit,  but  diversity  of  forms. 
Thus  India  shall  sing  the  glory  of  the  supreme  Lord 
with  Indian  voice,  and  with  Indian  accompaniments, 
and  so  shall  England,  and  America,  and  the  various 
races  and  tribes  of  the  world  ;  but  all  their  different 
voices  and  peculiar  modes  of  chanting  shall  commingle 
in  one  sweet,  swelling  chorus — one  universal  anthem 
proclaiming  in  solemn,  stirring  notes,  in  the  world 
below  and  the  heavens  above,  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
and  Brotherhood  of  Man." 

These  then  were  the  three  great  purposes  of  the 
various  developments  of  the  New  Dispensation  : — 
(i)  A  National  Religion  :  (2)  A  Universal  Religion  : 
(3)  An  Apostolical  Religion.  There  was  a  clear  con- 
tinuity in  the  history  of  that  peculiar  Theism  which  he 
brought  with  him  when  he  entered  the  Brahmo  Somaj, 
and  which  he  developed  into  the  Church  of  the  New 
Dispensation.  Those  therefore  who  argue  that  the  New 
Dispensation  was  a  manufacture  and  make-shift  to 
cover  the  consequences  of  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage,  do 
so  either  in  great  ignorance,  or  with  very  unworthy 
motives.  The  whole  idea  of  the  New  Dispensation 
was  fully  conceived,  named,  and  elucidated  in  Keshub's 
anniversary  lecture  on  "  Behold  the  Light  of  Heaven,' ' 
nearly  three  years  before  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage 
was   dreamt  of.      It  may  be   argued  with    better   rea- 


THE  NEW  METHODS.  35  t 

son  that  some,  certainly  not  all,  of  those  methods  which 
characterized  the  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation 
after  its  formal  announcement,  were  subsequent  to 
the  Cuch  Behar  marriage.  These  methods  were  pe- 
culiar to  a  period  of  revival,  and  we  have  seen  that 
after  the  depression  which  followed  the  establishment 
of  the  Sadharan  Somaj,  Keshub  did  mean  to  bring" 
about  an  unprecedented  revival.  How  far  he  meant  to 
perpetuate  these  methods  we  will  not  discuss  now,  but  as 
we  proceed.  We  fervently  believe  he  did  not  mean  to 
perpetuate  them.  But  it  is  time  once  for  all  to  distinguish 
between  the  permanent  principles  which  formed  the 
essential  characteristics  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  reli- 
gious genius,  and  the  forms,  accidents,  vehicles,  and  local 
means  through  which  he  laboured  latterly  to  convey  these 
to  his  emotional  and  imaginative  race.  We  want  to 
draw  notice  to  this  distinction  because  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  it  alone  can  enable  any  one  to  understand 
the  apparently  eccentric  developments  of  the  New 
Dispensation.  Apparently  eccentric,  but  actually  effec- 
tive to  popularize  the  purposes  of  his  universal  religion 
of  harmony  for  the  acceptance  of  the  nation,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  future  church  of  Hinduism. 

The  storm  of  opposition  which  raged  through  the 
whole  of  the  year  1878,  forced  upon  Keshub  in  the 
beginning  of  the  next  year  the  duty  of  giving  a  strong 
exposition  of  his  personal  claims  upon  the  credence 
and  confidence  of  the  impartial  public.  Perhaps  the 
strongest,  certainly  the  most  extensive  objection  taken 
to  his  attitude  during  the  marriage  controversy  was  the 


35 *  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

plea  of  Adesh,  or  commandment  of  God,  under  which 
he  professed  to  have  consented  to  the  Cuch  Behar 
marriage.  Even  those  who  did  not  care  to  find  fault 
with  the  marriage  itself,  protested  against  this  doctrine 
of  Divine  Inspiration  in  the  ordinary  emergencies  of 
life.  He  was  charged  with  theocratic  pretensions,  with 
the  ambition  of  setting  himself  up  as  a  divine  guide, 
as  one  equal  to  Jesus,  and  St.  Paul.  He  was  charged 
with  maintaining  that  supernatural  sanction  might  be 
obtained  for  acts  of  questionable  morality. 

The  hostility  against  his  daughter's  marriage  had 
already  roused  Keshub's  nature,  and  now  the  hostility 
against  his  favourite  doctrine  of  Adesh  roused  him  to 
intense  excitement.  He  felt  that  a  powerful  stand  was 
required  to  be  made  in  the  interests  of  spiritual  reli- 
gion, of  holy  impulses,  of  prayer  to  God,  and  the  res- 
ponse of  that  prayer  from  God  to  man.  If  the  idea  of  a 
great  Revival  had  occurred  to  him  before  as  the  dictate 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  it  occurred  to  him  now  much  more 
forcibly  that  the  possibility  and  necessity  of  such  dictates 
should  be  vindicated.  The  first  definite  claim  put  for- 
ward, the  first  doctrine  definitely  announced  upon  which 
the  New  Dispensation  reared  itself  was  therefore  the 
doctrine  of  Inspiration.  In  his  lecture  on  the  subject, 
Keshub  defines  Inspiration  to  be  "  the  fire  of  divine  life 
as  a  response  to  man's  earnest  prayers."  "  Prayer  and 
inspiration  are  the  two  ends  of  the  axis  around  which 
man's  spiritual  life  revolves.  They  are  only  two  sides  of 
the  same  act."  In  the  lecture  on  "  Am  I  an  Inspired  Pro- 
phet," he  most  emphatically  disclaimed  the  pretensions 


DOCTRINE   OF  INSPIRATION,   OR  ADESH.  353 

of  a  prophet,  but  as  emphatically  maintained  his  claim 
to  receive  inspiration.  "  I  am  commissioned  to  preach 
certain  truths."  "  In  my  creed  all  precepts  begin  with, 
'  Thus  saith  the  Lord/  But  how  do  I  know  His  voice  ? 
There  is  a  ring,  a  peculiar  intonation  in  the  spirit  voice 
of  the  Lord.  Those  who  have  heard  it  often  can  recog- 
nize it  at  once.  It  was  my  God  who  said  to  me  long 
ago  Thou  shalt  become  a  Theist.  It  was  He  who  said, 
Thou  shalt  give  up  all  secular  work,  and  take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow.  It  was  He  who  said  to  me 
Thou  shalt  lead  a  simple  life,  and  devote  it  to  mission- 
ary work Surely  I  am   not  to  blame  for  anything  I 

may  have  done  under  Heaven's  injunction.  If  anyone 
is  to  blame,  the  Lord  God  of  Heaven  is  to  answer  for 
having  taught  me  and  constrained  me  to  do  most 
unpopular  things  for  the  good  of  my  country."  Thus 
in  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  was  laid  the  foundation- 
stone  of  Keshub's  future  movement  of  the  New  Dis- 
pensation. These  utterances  sounded  ominous,  and 
produced  much  greater  misrepresentation  than  what 
they  were  meant  to  cure.  Fuller  explanations  were 
wanted  as  to  what  Keshub  meant  by  "  the  injunction" 
and  the  voice  of  God.  He  had  already  explained  that 
"  so  soon  as  there  is  a  contact  of  divinity  with  humanity, 
flashes  of  light  instantly  burst  into  view,  and  illumine, 
enliven,  and  inspire  the  soul."  But  he  explained  further. 
*f  The  Voice  of  God,"  he  says  in  a  little  tract  on  the 
subject,  "  is  a  clear  communication  of  wisdom,  a  quicken- 
ing influence,  an  overpowering  impulse,  a  strange  com- 
bination of  events  in  life  pointing  to  a  lesson  for  guid- 

45 


354  LIFE   0F  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

ance,   as  a  sudden    awaking   of    the   whole   soul   to   a 
particular    duty,    as    an    apprenhension    of    signs    and 
indications  in  Nature/'     "  Tell  me  Father,"   he  prays, 
"  if  thy  voice   is  a  sound,  and  whether  it  comes  to  us  as 
a  sound."     The  response  is    thus   worded.     "  I    do   not 
speak  as  men  speak.     Yet  have  I  a  voice  which  all  true 
devotees  can  hear.     It  is  the    Spirit's   voice   audible  to 
the    spirit's   ear.     The  whole   thing  is  spiritual.     There 
is  neither  sound,  nor  language,   nor  gesture.     It  is  the 
language  of   the   heart.     Neither   Hebrew,   nor   Greek, 
nor  Sanskrit,  nor  English  ;  but  the  plain   vernacular  of 
the  heart,  natural  instincts,  and  feelings."     Could  there 
be   a   simpler  and   more    rational   way   of    interpreting 
Inspiration  ?     But  he  does  not  stop   here  ;  he   proceeds 
to  interpret  the  natural   cravings  of   hunger   and  thirst 
as    commandments    from    God.     "  Daily    thou    feelest 
hungry,  and  daily  thou  eatest  thy  bread.     Do   not  men 
say  they  eat  because  they  feel  hungry  ?     What  dost  thou 
say  ?     I  eat  because  God  says   '  Child,  eat.'     And  when 
I   am    ill,    Thy  word  of  counsel  comes  to  me,  Eat  not." 
At  all  times,  Keshub  strongly  and   unflinchingly  main- 
tained   conscience    to    be    the    direct    voice    of    God. 
"  When  thou  art  about  to  do  something  wrong,  is  there 
any  admonition  or  remonstrance  from  within,  anything 
that  tells  thee  not  to  harm  thy  neighbour,  not  to  speak 
untruth,   not  to   cause  thy  wife   and  children  to  starve, 
not  to  torture  an  innocent  man  ?     If  so,   whence   comes 
this   warning  ?     Unquestionably    from    thee,    O    Lord. 
Yes,  Thou  warnest  the  heart  of  man  to  eschew  whatever 
is  wrong,  and  Thou  commandest  us   to   do   our  various 


DOCTRTNE   OF   INSPIRATION   OR   ADESH.  355 

duties.  Conscience  is  evidently  Thy  voice."  Is  it  not 
a  wonder  that  in  the  face  of  such  lucid  and  unmistak- 
able interpretations,  men  should  accuse  Keshub  Chun- 
der  Sen  of  preferring  supernatural  claims,  and  denounce 
his  impulses  as  pretensions  to  a  place  above  the  level 
of  humanity  ?  But  be  that  as  it  may,  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen,  before  he  formally  proclaimed  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion, laid  on  a  firm  and  secure  basis  the  all-important 
doctrine  of  the  direct  commandments  of  God  to  the 
human  soul.  "  We  must  not  regard  inspiration  as  God 
speaking  by  fits  and  starts,  but  as  a  perpetual  breath- 
ing of  His  Spirit.  It  may  be  realized  in  individual 
conscience  now  and  then,  here  and  there,  by  this  man 
or  that  man,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  is  ever  working  in 
us,  and  the  flowing  current  of  His  inspiration  knows  no 
rest.  Whether  we  hear  Him  or  not,  He  speaks  always  ; 
whether  we  catch  the  rays  of  His  inspiration  or  not,  He 
shines  eternally  and  sends  forth  His  light  in  all 
directions  for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  Our  posi- 
tion as  frail  beings  amid  the  temptations  of  this  world, 
renders  it  necessary  that  God  should  ever  speak,  so 
that  we  may  hear  Him  whenever  we  wish,  and  receive 
inspiration  whenever  and  wherever  we  may  need  it." 
When  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  is  so  defined,  what 
inconsistency  could  there  be  that,  amidst  the  perplexi- 
ties incident  to  the  negotiations  of  the  Cuch  Behar 
marriage,  Keshub  should  pray  unto  God  for  guidance, 
and  receive,  in  his  moral  consciousness,  the  direction 
which  he  needed  ?  And  why  should  he,  when  hard 
pressed,  hesitate  to  avow  it  as  the  commandment  of 


356  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   (THUNDER   SEX. 

God  to  be  honoured  and  obeyed  in  preference  to  every 
counsel  of  prudence  or  propriety  ?  But  men  disbelieved 
him,  and  persecuted  him  when  he  said  this,  and  he, 
according  to  his  spiritual  constitution,  only  stated  the 
doctrines  with  greater  persistence  than  ever.  The 
"  Sunday  Mirror/'  which  was  Keshub's  religious  organ, 
came  out  with  its  devotional  columns  full  of  matter  put 
in  the  form  of  conversation  between  the  devotee  and 
his  God.  Keshub  thus  expressed  his  deepest  convic- 
tions on  essential  matters  of  religion,  because  he  felt 
these  convictions,  as  the  result  of  an  ardent  religious 
life,  were  instilled  into  his  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Keshub's  daily  devotions  in  the  domestic  sanctuary 
were  also  a  long  series  of  the  most  earnest  colloquy.  All 
this,  however,  provoked  severe  criticism,  it  seemed  to 
savour  of  improper  familiarity  and  irreverence.  God 
addressed  as  Mother,  and  represented  as  speaking  to 
the  devotee  as  the  Mother  would  speak  to  her  listening 
child, — God  regarded  as  the  Supreme  Queen  of  the 
Indian  nation,  proclaiming  the  will  divine,  as  a  Queen 
would  make  her  proclamation  to  her  loyal  subjects, 
these  were  altogether  new  and  startling  forms  of  devo- 
tional vocabulary  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  It  was  repug- 
nant to  Europeanized  taste  and  feeling,  and  hence 
unpopular  in  England  as  well  as  India.  Some  charac- 
terized it  as  "  undisguised  blasphemy,"  others  as 
simply  "  awful  "  which  meant  shocking.  But  Keshub, 
however,  put  in  practice  what  he  had  long  cherished  as 
vital  principles  in  the  relations  between  God  and  man. 
lie   was   indulging   in    language  which  was  the  delight 


ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  PARA MH ANSA  RAMKRISHNA.   357 

of  his  spiritual  instincts.  He  was  following  the  well- 
recognized  examples  of  Oriental  devotees  and  prophets 
in  all  ages.  He  was  doing  what  simple  devout  men 
and  women  do  in  India  every  day.  In  the  new  Revival 
which  he  wanted  to  introduce,  he  meant  to  discard  the 
formalism  and  remoteness  which  theologians  had  long 
interposed  between  the  soul  and  God.  He  tried  to  form 
a  new  habit,  he  taught  his  disciples  to  approach  God 
as  the  child  approaches  its  mother,  and  he  meant  to 
embody  the  divine  response  to  such  familiar  devotions 
in  language  as  familiar  and  homely  as  possible.  This 
was  another  feature  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

Some  time  in  the  year  1876,  in  a  suburban  garden  at 
Belgharia,  a  singular  incident  took  place.  There  came 
one  morning  in  a  ricketty  ticca  gari,  a  disorderly  looking 
young  man,  insufficiently  clad,  and  with  manners  less 
than  insufficient.  He  was  introduced  as  Ramkrishna, 
the  Paramhansa  (great  devotee)  of  Dakshineshwar. 
His  appearance  was  so  unpretending  and  simple,  and 
he  spoke  so  little  at  his  introduction,  that  we  did  not 
take  much  notice  of  him  at  first.  But  soon  he  began 
to  discourse  in  a  sort  of  half  delirious  state,  becoming 
now  and  then  quite  unconscious.  What  he  said, 
however,  was  so  profound  and  beautiful  that  we  soon 
perceived  he  was  no  ordinary  man.  A  good  many  of 
our  readers  have  seen  and  heard  him.  The  acquain- 
tance of  this  devotee  which  soon  matured  into  intimate 
friendship,  had  a  powerful  effect  upon  Keshub's  catholic 
mind.  The  very  first  thing  observable  in  the  Param- 
hansa   was    the     intense    tenderness    with    which    he 


358  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

cherished  the  conception  of  God  as  Mother.  To  him 
the  female  principle  in  the  Hindu  idea  of  Godhead, 
Shaktiy  the  incarnation  of  force,  popularly  called  Kali, 
was  the  Mother  Supreme.  She  tyrannizes  over  all 
tyrants.  She  charms  and  conquers  all  beings.  Yet 
she  is  the  mother  of  the  creation.  Her  endless  power 
is  a  guarantee  that  she  can  save  and  protect  her 
children,  those  that  come  to  her  as  their  mother,  and 
ask  the  shelter  of  her  feet.  Her  motherly  solicitude 
excites  the  tenderest  filial  affection  in  the  hearts  of  her 
devotees,  and  the  inspiration  of  Ramprasad  Sen, 
who  expressed  himself  in  the  most  wonderful  songs  of 
filial  piety  ever  sung,  bears  strange  testimony  to  the 
reality  and  effectiveness  of  the  worship  of  Kali.  The 
adoration  of  Shakti  is,  according  to  Ram  Krishna,  a 
childlike,  whole-souled,  rapturous  self-consecration  to 
the  motherhood  of  God  as  represented  by  the  power 
and  influence  of  woman.  AVoman,  therefore,  had  been 
long  renounced  by  our  friend  in  every  material  and 
carnal  relation.  He  has  a  wife,  but  never  associates 
with  her.  AVoman,  he  says,  is  unconquerable  by  man 
except  by  him  who  looks  up  to  her  as  her  son.  AVoman 
fascinates,  and  keeps  the  whole  world  from  the  love  of 
God.  The  highest  and  holiest  saints  have  been  brought 
back  to  sin  by  the  nameless  power  of  woman.  The 
absolute  conquest  of  lust  had  been  his  great  ambition. 
Tor  long  years,  therefore,  he  said,  he  made  the  utmost 
efforts  to  be  delivered  from  the  influence  of  woman. 
His  heart-rending  supplications  for  such  deliverance, 
sometimes  uttered  aloud  in  his  retreat  on  the  riverside, 


DOCTRINE   OF   DIVINE   MOTHERHOOD.  359 

brought  crowds  of  people  who  bitterly   cried   when   he 
cried,    and   could   not  help   blessing  him,   and  wishing 
him  success  with  their  whole  hearts.     He  had  success- 
fully escaped  the   evil   of   carnality  which  he  dreaded. 
His  Mother  to  whom   he   prayed,   that   is   the   goddess 
Kali,    made  him  recognize   every  woman  as  her  incar- 
nation, so  that   he  now  honoured  each  member   of    the 
other   sex   as   his   mother.     He  bowed  his  head  to  the 
ground  before  women,  and  even  before  little  girls  ;  he  had 
insisted  upon  worshipping  not   a  few  of  them  as  a  son 
might  worship  his  mother.     The  purity  of  his   thoughts 
and    relations    towards    woman    was  most  unique  and 
instructive.     It  was  the    opposite  of  the  European  idea. 
It  was  an  attitude  essentially,    traditionally,    gloriously 
national.     Keshub's  own  trials  and  sorrows  about  the 
time    of    the    Cuch  Behar  marriage  had  spontaneously 
suggested   to    him   the  necessity  of   regarding   God  as 
Mother.    In  his  devotional  colloquies  he  often  addressed 
the  Deity  in  various  forms    of   the  word   Mother.     And 
now   the    sympathy,    friendship,    and   example    of    the 
Paramhansa   converted  the   Motherhood    of  God  into  a 
subject  of  special  culture  with  him.     The   greater  part 
of   the   year    1879   witnessed  this  development.     It  be- 
came altogether  a   new  feature  of    the    Revival   which 
Keshub  was  specially  bringing  about.     However  much 
European   taste    might    dislike    such    a    development, 
Keshub's    religion    perceptibly    gained    in    popularity 
with     Hindu     society    by    this     means.      To    embody 
it    in    the   shape   of  a  practical    reform,    in   the   mid- 
dle of   the  same  year   (1879)   he   organized   the    Arya 


1 


6o  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 


Nari  Somaj  in  which  the  ladies  of  his  family  and 
neighbouring  families  devoted  themselves  to  spiritual 
culture.  A  woman's  movement  was  thus  started.  Vows 
and  disciplines  were  laid  down  for  the  acceptance  of 
ladies.  They  held  services  amongst  themselves  from 
which  males  were  excluded.  They  prayed,  composed, 
discoursed,  and  sang  among  themselves. 

But  if  Keshub  tried  to  enrich  the  Theism  of  the  New 
Dispensation  by  incorporating  into  it  the  national   con- 
ception  of  the  Divine   Mother,   he    never  for  a  moment 
lost   the   consciousness   that   such    developments   were 
likely  to  impart  a  bias  to  his   movement  which  in    the 
long   run  might  misdirect  its  course.     Nor  did  merely 
Hindu  developments  satisfy  his  own   heart.    So  parallel 
with  these  there  was   a  systematic    cultivation  of   the 
most    profound     spirit   of   Christianity,   and   persistent 
efforts    were   made    at   sympathy    and    fellowship    with 
Christians  of  every  denomination.     Three  months    after 
his   lecture  on   "  Am   I  an  Inspired  Prophet "  came  the 
great  oration  on  "  India  asks  who  is   Christ."     For  the 
first   time  he   startled   the  whole  theistic  community  by 
declaring   the   divinity    of  Christ.     "  Verily "    said   he, 
"  there  is  such  a  thing  as  divinity  in   Christ.  "     "  Were 
it  not  for  the  bold    assertion  of  identity  with  the  God- 
head,  I  would   not  honour   Christ  so  much   as   I  do." 
Towards   the    conclusion    he  said   "  the  time  has  come 
when  you  can  no  longer  be   inimical   or  indifferent   to 
Christ.     S^ly    unto    Christ,   as   unto  your  best  friend — 
Welcome  !     I  say  emphatically,   and   I   say  before   you 
all,   that  Christ  is  already  present  in  you.     He  is  in  you 


< 


THE   CORRECTIVE   OF   CHRISTIAN   INFLUENCE.       36 1 

even  when  you  are  unconscious  of  his  presence.  Even 
if  your  life  deny  Christ,  your  hearts  have  secretly 
accepted  him.  For  Christ  is  the  light  that  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  to  the  world."  Keshub  did  his 
best  to  have  social  communion  with  every  denomination 
of  Christians.  Whenever  he  had  any  charities  to  give, 
he  gave  to  Christians,  Hindus,  and  Mahamedans  alike. 
He  had  intimate  relations  with  the  most  popular  Jesuit 
priest  of  Calcutta,  Father  Lafont.  And  when  the 
Oxford  Missionaries,  belonging  to  the  ritualistic  divi- 
sion of  the  Church  of  England,  landed  in  Calcutta  in 
December  1880,  Keshub  was  the  very  first  to  give 
them  a  brotherly  reception  to  which  they  responded 
with  equal  warmth.  Hindu  and  Christian  influences 
thus  began  to  flow  side  by  side  in  his  life  and  move- 
ments, balancing  and  correcting  the  tendencies  which 
they  were  respectively  calculated  to  foster.  The  growth 
of  the  Christian  spirit  in  the  New  Dispensation  revival 
thus  became  national,  and  the  growth  of  national 
theistic  religion  was  regulated  by  the  spirit  and  teachings 
of  Christ.  This  harmonious  evolution  became  an  eye- 
sore to  certain  Christians  and  rationalists.  The  former 
could  not  bear  that  Christ  and  his  religion  should  be 
interpreted  nationally,  and  connected  with  the  tradi- 
tional forms  and  instincts  of  Hindu  faith ;  and  the 
latter  were  sorely  offended  that  Christ  and  his  teachings 
should  be  so  much  talked  about,  and  imported  into  the 
colourless  creed  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  They  had  ex- 
pected that  the  uproar  raised  after  the  Cuch  Behar 
marriage  should  completely  overwhelm   Keshub   Chun- 

46 


362  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

der  Sen.  And  when  they  found  that  far  from  that 
Keshub  continued  to  produce  fresh  sensations  by 
unforeseen  developments  and  formidable  revivals,  their 
disappointment  was  great,  and  disappointment  pro- 
duced   rage    and    hatred. 

In  the  month  of  October  1879,  when  all  Bengal  was 
throbbing  with  the  great  excitement  of  the  national 
festival  of  Durga  Pujah,  Keshub  contemplated  the 
first  great  undertaking  of  the  new  revival,  a  missonary 
expedition,  consisting  of  a  powerful  contingent  of  his 
most  enthusiastic  disciples,  travelling  through  a  large 
tract  of  country  in  Northern  Bengal  and  Behar.  Its 
object  was  proclaimed  in  the  shape  of  a  divine  com- 
mandment.    The  proclamation  was  thus  worded  : — 

"  Go  and  proclaim  me  Mother  of  India,"  said  the  Lord  to  his  disciples 
gathered  around  him.  "  Many  are  ready  to  worship  me  as  their  father. 
But  they  know  not  I  am  their  mother  too,  tender,  indulgent,  forbearing, 
forgiving,  always  ready  to  take  back  the  penitent  child.  Ye  shall  go  forth 
from  city  to  city  and  from  village  to  village  singing  my  mercies,  and  proclaim- 
ing unto  all  men  that  I  am  India's  Mother.  Let  your  behaviour  and 
conversation,  preaching  and  singing,  be  such  as  may  convince  those  amongst 
whom  you  go  that  you  are  intoxicated  with  my  sweet  dispensation  and 
sweeter  name.  And  may  India  so  convinced,  come  to  me  and  say — Blessed 
be  thy  name  Sweet  Goddess !  We  have  heard  and  seen  the  Supreme 
Mother's  apostles." 

Accordingly  the  expedition  started  from  Calcutta  on 
the  7th  November,  and  travelled  from  town  to  town 
producing  great  agitation,  and  awaking  men  to  devotion 
and  the  love  of  God.  The  procedure  was  generally 
this.  After  the  party  of  about  twenty  men  alighted  at 
the    railway  station,  they  unfurled  their  flags  inscribed 


THE  GREAT  MISSIONARY  EXPEDITION.  363 

with  various  sacred  mottos,  such  as  "  Satyum  eva  Jayate" 
Truth  shall  surely  conquer ;  "  Come  all  ye  nations  to 
God  "  ;  "  God's  mercy  alone  availeth,"  &c.  Then  they 
sang  popular  hymns  in  the  simplest  style  with  the 
accompaniment  of  the  khole,  kcirtal  and  ektara,  instru- 
ments which  we  have  described  before.  They  were 
headed  by  Xeshub,  as  Minister,  dressed  as  a  devotee, 
and  went  generally  to  a  garden,  or  meadow,  or  public 
thoroughfare,  or  the  riverside.  There  after  the  loud 
and  enthusiastic  singing  which  always  gathered  a 
crowd,  the  Minister  gave  an  extemporary  discourse  in 
Bengali,  or  Hindi,  or  English,  or  in  the  three  languages 
combined,  according  to  the  character  and  composi- 
tion of  the  audience.  They  would  then  perhaps  be 
invited  by  a  Hindu  of  some  social  position  to  his  house, 
where  they  would  have  a  simple  feast,  and  where  after 
devout  conversation,  and  divine  service  they  would 
retire  to  rest  late  at  night,  say  at  1  A.  M.,  and  sleep 
on  the  floor  upon  some  sort  of  matting  or  mattress. 
We  give  an  account  of  a  part  of  the  proceedings  written 
by  Keshub  himself: — 

"  Advantageous  position  was  occupied  on  Saturday  afternoon,  November 
8th,  near  Shahjeeka  Puker  in  Mozufferpore,  a  very  pretty  tank,  adjoining  a 
Mahadev  temple.  For  nearly  an  hour  the  Minister  spoke  in  Bengali  to  a 
mixed  audience  composed  of  Bengalis  and  up-countrymen.  For  the  benefit  of 
the  latter,  he  said  a  few  concluding  words  in  Hindi. 

Regret  was  expressed  that  more  was  not  said  in  the  local  vernacular,  but 
the  people  enjoyed  and  felt  impressed  with  the  little  that  was  said.  To  reach 
the  people  one  must  send  his  appeals  through  the  channel  of  the  local 
vernacular.  As  usual,  after  the  address,  our  friends  sang  the  Holy  Name 
through  the  streets  in  solemn  procession.  Torches  were  lighted,  the  flags 
unfurled  and  the  bugle  sounded.     There  were  both  Bengali  and  Hindi  songs  ; 


t 


64  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 


in  the  latter  some  of  the  poorer  class  Tirhutis  joined  with  warm  and  animated 
hearts.  On  Sunday  morning  there  was  the  usual  service  under  a  shady  tree 
on  the  banks  of  the  Bura  Gundack,  in  which  we  daily  bathed  during  the 
entire  period  of  our  stay  at  Mozufferpore.  Prayer  over,  we  lighted  the  fuel 
and  cooked  our  own  food.  In  consequence  of  there  being  too  much  rice 
in  the  boiling  pot,  the  water  proved  insufficient,  and  the  rice  seemed  sticky. 
Yet  we  enjoyed  our  breakfast  and  thanked  God.  In  the  afternoon  the 
Minister  called  on  Bishop  Johnson,  who  had  come  to  the  station  in  the 
course  of  his  usual  visitation  tour.  The  excellent  Christian  Bishop  gave  a 
most  cordial  welcome  to  the  Brahmo  leader  in  the  residence  of  the  local 
chaplain,  and  though  of  differing  views,  they  exchanged  their  sentiments  in 
a  most  friendly  spirit.  The  interview  was  brief  but  cordial,  and  on  the 
Minister's  return,  he  said  he  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  earnestness, 
humility,  condescension  and  courtesy  of  the  captain  of  Clmst's  army  in 
India.  A  wealthy  Bengali  zemindar  kindly  lent  his  garden  house,  and  the 
regular  Sunday  service  was  held  there,  instead  of  the  small  room  of  the  local 
Arya  Somaj.  There  were  about  two  hundred  persons  present,  of  whom 
only  a  few  were  Brahmos.  After  service  the  party  went  on  singing  a  part 
of  the  way,  and  then  broke  up.  In  the  Science  Association  Hall,  a  Lecture 
was  delivered  on  Monday  by  the  Minister  on  "  India  and  India's  God,"  in 
which,  before  an  assembly  of  European  and  Native  gentlemen,  he  spoke 
for  an  hour  of  the  evolution  and  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  of  Provi- 
dence in  this  great  country. 

Sometimes  a  high  English  official  would  preside 
over  the  evening  meeting,  and  begin  and  close  the 
proceedings  with  sympathetic  and  complimentary  ex- 
pressions. Among  other  places  the  expedition  visited 
Gya,  a  great  place  of  pilgrimage  to  the  Hindus,  and 
the  village  of  Unnilva,  or  Buddha  Gya  where  the  great 
Sakya  Muni  attained  his  illumination.  At  such  places 
Keshub  would  address  the  surrounding  hills,  and 
forests,  and  hold  communion  with  the  spirit  of  the 
great  Buddha.  The  developments  of  the  next  year 
showed  how  far  Keshub  carried  these  spiritual  exer- 
cises. 


DOCTRINE   OF   DIVINE   EXISTENCE.  365 

The  Expedition  returned  to  Calcutta  on  the  4th 
December  after  travelling  in  all  a  distance  of  600  miles. 
The  result  of  this  enthusiastic  undertaking  is  summed 
up  by  Keshub  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  The  whole  thing,  we  say  with  thankful  hearts,  has  been  a  great  and 
decided  success.  The  Expedition  has  found  a  warm  welcome  wherever  it 
went,  and  the  only  thing  which  the  people  regretted  was  the  shortness  of  its 
stay  in  each  place  and  the  rapidity  of  its  movements.  They  one  and  all 
regretted  that  the  Expedition  only  came,  conquered,  and  went  away.  But 
such  was  the  Lord's  command.  An  enthusiastic  demonstration,  popular 
excitement,  and  speedy  victory.  That  was  the  creed  of  the  preaching  army. 
The  object  of  the  Expeditionary  movement  was  not  to  stay  and  make  converts, 
to  form  and  organize,  but  simply  to  excite  and  animate  the  public  mind,  and 
cast  the  seeds  of  truth  on  all  sides. — The  Mother,  the  Mother,  the  Mother, — 
this  is  the  battle-cry  with  which  the  Expedition  has  humbly  yet  boldly  fought 
to  conquer  the  land,  and  its  success  has,  therefore,  been  so  great  and  so 
glorious." 

The  four  most  characteristic  discourses  that  Keshub 
delivered  towards  his  latter  years  were  (t  India  Asks  : 
Who  is  Christ  ?"  1879.  "  God-vision  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century"  1880.  "  We  Apostles  of  the  New  Dispen- 
sation" 1 88 1.  "  That  Marvellous  Mystery  the  Trinity" 
1882.  His  teachings  on  some  of  the  most  important 
subjects  of  general  religion  are  elaborately  given  in 
these.  On  the  subject  of  Divine  Existence,  Keshub 
never  relied  much  and  taught  very  little  on  the  familiar 
arguments  of  design  and  causation. 

"  We  need  not  have  recourse  to  metaphysics  and  theology,"  he  says  "for 
our  knowledge  of  God.  Nay  we  may  well  afford  to  dispense  with  tame  and 
cold  dogmas. 

"  In  the  presence  of  the  burning  reality  of  a  divine  communication, 
when  God  Himself  says  to  us  '  I  am,'  what  better  proof  do  we  need  of  His 
existence  and  nature  ?     Surely  arguments  based  upon  marks  of    design   and 


366  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

evidences  of  skill  in  the  universe  are  old  and  obsolete  ;  they  do  not  and 
cannot  satisfy  the  mind  of  any  true  believer  now.  Enough  if  the  Lord  says 
'  I  am.'  The  Word  of  God  proves  God.  All  other  proofs  are  as  nothing 
compared  to  this  overwhelming  and  direct  testimony  of  self-affirmation.  I 
have  seen  the  Lord  and  heard  Him,  and  therefore  believe.  Never  was  belief 
upreared  upon  a  firmer  basis.  Indeed  this  is  the  highest  faith,  and  here 
doubt  and  infidelity  are  impossible.  Can  mere  theology  save  me  ?  Can 
tracts  and  books  fortify  and  sustain  my  faith  in  God  ?  No.  To-day  I  may 
be  logically  satisfied  that  God  is,  but  to-morrow  when  new  trials  and  diffi- 
culties beset  me,  my  intellectual  belief  may  be  brought  down  to  the  zero 
point.  When,  however,  the  soul  has  heard  from  the  very  lips  of  the  Lord 
Himself  that  He  is,  nothing  on  earth  can  shake  its  conviction  or  weaken  its 
faith.  The  word  of  God  is  all  in  all.  To  us  it  is  so.  In  these  two  words, 
'  I  am,'  there  is  a  much  deeper  meaning  than  is  usually  attached  to  them. 
How  do  I  know  that  God  exists  ?  Because  I  stand  in  His  presence,  and 
hear  those  solemn  words  as  they  fall  from  His  lips.  Seeing  and  hearing, 
these  are  my  testimonies.  The  eye  and  the  ear  are  my  witnesses  ;  I  mean 
the  eye  and  the  ear  of  the  soul.  They  bear  consentient  testimony  to  the 
Godhead.  Their  evidence  none  can  dispute.  Indeed  more  irrefragable 
testimony  is  not  possible  than  that  borne  by  the  senses.  As  of  material  so 
of  spiritual  realities,  the  eye  and  the  ear  offer  the  best  and  most  valid  proofs. 
It  is  these  two  that  help  us  to  know  and  follow  God  in  India  to-day,  not 
books.  Our  ideas  of  the  Divinity  are  not  abstract  and  intellectual,  but  are 
based  upon  direct  and  intuitive  knowledge.  Our  faith  in  God  is  not  so  much 
a  conception  as  a  spiritual  perception.  We  see  Him  as  a  present  reality,  a 
living  Person,  with  the  mind's  eye,  and  therefore  believe  in  Him.  Nay,  we 
not  only  see  Him,  but  we  likewise  hear  His  voice,  as  He  whispers  in  our 
inmost  soul  to  the  ear  of  conscience.  He  whom  we  adore  is  not  a  logical 
Divinity,  but  the  Living  God,  who  makes  Himself  visible  and  audible  to  the 
believer's  soul."* 

He  explains  his  idea  of  God  thus  : — 

"I  do  not  blindly  serve  Imagination,  neither  do  I  idolize  Abstraction.  My 
Divinity  is  equally  removed  from  both.  Neither  the  painted  fiction  of  ancient 
mythology,  nor  the  polished  abstraction  of  modern  metaphysics  finds  a  place 
in  my  philosophy  of  God-vision.  If  you  wish  to  see  God,  you  should  take  care 
that  in  giving  up  the  creations  of  gross  imagination,  you  do  not  plunge  into 
*  Behold  the  Light  of  Heaven  m  India. 


DOCTRINE   OF   SYNTHESIS   AND   ANALYSIS.  367 

idealism,  the  worship  of  pure  abstraction.  Are  you  going  to  accept  as  your 
God  the  mere  idea  of  divine  power,  the  idea  of  infinite  wisdom,  the  idea  of 
love,  or  the  idea  of  immaculate  holiness  ?  Is  an  idea  God  ?  Is  thought  Deity  ? 
It  is  one  thing  to  think  of  attributes,  and  cognize  separate  and  abstract  quali- 
ties, and  quite  another  thing  to  perceive  an  object.  Your  knowledge  of  divine 
attributes  may  be  thoroughly  correct.  But  in  thought  you  abstract  those 
qualities,  and  take  them  piece-meal.  What  are  these  divine  attributes,  wisdom 
and  power,  love  and  holiness,  but  broken  lights  ?  .  .  .  You  have  broken  the 
nature  of  the  true  God  into  small  bits  for  the  sake  of  convenient  apprehension. 
Not  being  able  to  take  in  the  whole,  you  divide  it  by  sharp  analysis,  and  try 
to  think  of  the  separate  attributes  and  qualities  one  after  another.  This* 
indeed,  is  no  vision.  Synthesis  is  essential  to  perception.  In  order  that 
you  may  see  God,  you  must  concentrate  in  a  focus  all  these  scattered  and 
broken  lights,  and  apprehend  them  in  synthetic  unity.  No  fragments  of 
abstract  notions  flitting  before  the  student  of  philosophy,  but  the  perception 
of  the  Living  God,  the  personal  one,  centre  and  substance  of  the  highest 
conceivable  attributes,  that  is  God-vision.  In  it  humanity  sees  the  indivisible 
and  undivided  Deity  as  a  whole."* 

Keshub's  whole  philosophy  of  spiritual  life  was  in- 
volved in  this  double  principle  of  synthesis  and  analysis. 

"  Do  not  break,"  he  says  in  God-vision,  "  but  unite.  Unite  in  a  personal 
unity  the  various  fragments  of  a  divided  Deity  scattered  broadcast  over  the 
world,  and  adored  separately  in  different  ages  in  different  schools  of  religion 
and  philosophy.  Bring  all  these  broken  units  into  one  focus,  and  you  will 
see  in  this  a  beautiful  perfect  and  harmonious  whole,  the  very  Living  God  of 
the  universe  .  .  .  Not  the  pantheist's  God,  not  the  idolator's  God,  not  the 
visionary's  God,  not  the  metayhysician's  God,  but  the  true,  personal  God, 
full  of  wisdom  and  love,  full  of  power  and  holiness,  and  perfect.  This  is  the 
God  of  all  eternity,  the  God  of  the  entire  universe." 

He  first  of  all  teaches  the   realization  of  God   in  the 
manifold  forces  of  nature,  as  the  Unity  of  Force. 

What  is  the  single  force  to  which  both  mind  and  matter  may  be  referred 
ultimately,  which  will  fulfil  the  desire  of  ages,  and  the  hope  of  the  scientific 
world  ?  In  these  walls,  and  in  these  pillars,  in  the  men  and  women  assembled 

*  God-vision  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


368  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

in  this  hall  in  the  earth  below,  and  the  heaven  above,  in  the  light  and  in  tin- 
air,  in  the  world  within  and  the  world  without,  in  history  and  in  biography, 
what  is  the  single  force  that  pervades  all  and  guides  all,  supports  and  quickens 
all  ?  ....  I  unhesitatingly  call  it  God-force.  A  personal  creative  force,  an 
intelligent  will  force."* 

In  the  truth  of  a  future  life  Keshub  had  a  faith  whose 
clearness  and  strength  almost  amounted  to  a  direct 
vision.  He  never  taught  or  tried  to  localize  heaven 
and  hell.  The  tremendous  mystery  of  death  had  to 
him  a  darkness  which  he  did  not  venture  to  penetrate. 
But  of  the  beatitudes  of  heaven  and  salvation  he  had  a 
positive  foretaste.  He  spoke  of  the  life  immortal  not 
with  mere  belief,  not  with  mere  expectation,  but  with 
certain  knowledge.  In  his  lecture  on  "  Our  Faith  and 
Experiences"  delivered  in  1876,  he  speaks  thus  : — 

I  question  the  wisdom  of  searching  for  separate  proofs  of  the  existence 
of  the  future  world.  What  better  proof  can  there  be  of  our  immortality 
than  the  fact  of  God's  existence  ?  He  who  believes  in  the  Living  God  has 
already  tacitly  believed  in  the  next  world.  In  fact  the  two  doctrines  are 
inseparably  linked  together  in  the  depths  of  our  being.  The  idea  of  immor- 
tality lies  patently  in  the  idea  of  the  God-head,  and  requires  only  to  be 
evolved  out  of  it.  The  infinite  Father  above  and  the  eternal  heme  before, 
meet  in  one  focus  in  the  eye  of  faith,  and  may  be  said  to  be  apprehended  to- 
gether in  the  intuitive  consciousness.  In  natural  religion,  in  Pure  Theism, 
there  can  be  no  divinity  without  a  future  world,  no  immortality  without  a 
divinity.  The  intuitive  eye  raised  above  beholds  God  ;  directed  forward  it 
sees  its  future  home  in  the  next  world.  A  father  without  a  home,  a  home 
without  a  father, — that  is  an  anomaly  against  which  nature  rebels.  A  more 
philosophical  analysis  of  Theistic  faith  gives  us  as  the  last  fact  a  deep  sense 
of  dependence,  in  which  both  these  doctrines  have  their  root.  The  soul  in 
the  earliest  dawn  of  faith  feels  that  it  depends,  for  life  and  for  everything 
else,  upon  the  living  God.  "  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being" 
is    the    primitive  creed    of  the    infant    soul.     And  in   this     you  see   already 

*    God-vision  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


DOCTRINE   OF  IMMORTALITY.  369 

the  root  idea  of  immortality.  The  soul  feels  that  its  life  is  in  God,  and  shall 
continue  to  be  in  God.  I  live  in  the  Infinite  Vital  Power, — here  you  have 
the  doctrine  of  God.  I  will  continue  to  live  in  that  power, — here  you  have 
the  doctrine  of  immortality.  If  we  have  then  no  life  apart  from  God,  we 
cannot  but  regard  Him  and  our  future  existence  as  one  integral  fact.  How 
can  you  separate  the  one  from  the  other  ?  Nay,  by  rejecting  the  doctrine  of 
immortality,  you  virtually  surrender  all  the  important  attributes  of  Divinity, 
and  thus  reject  the  true  God.  If  there  were  no  hereafter  to  supplement  and 
perfect  our  life  here,  God's  wisdom,  power,  mercy  and  justice  would  all  be 
gravely  impugned,  and  we  would  in  fact  have  an  imperfect  and  finite  deity  to 
adore  and  honor.  Believe  that  the  dissolution  of  the  body  is  the  last  chapter 
in  the  history  of  man's  life,  and  you  banish  the  Great  God  from  your  theo- 
logy. Thus  both  by  positive  and  negative  evidence  all  true  believers  are 
shut  up  to  the  alternative  of  accepting  at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  as 
parts  of  one  indivisible  truth,  the  doctrines  of  Divinity  and  Immortality.  As 
the  Lord  enters  the  heart  of  the  devout  believer,  He  brings  with  him  the 
future  heaven,  the  house  of  "  many  mansions,"  where  the  moral  world  is 
completed,  and  where  blessedness  and  glory  everlasting  await  His  children. 
If  then  you  acknowledge  Him,  you  must  believe  in  that  heaven,  and  strive  to 
live  righteously  here,  that  you  may  worthily  enter  your  place  hereafter." 
*  *  *  *  *  "  If  we  live  in  Him  we  have  joy  and  holiness  and 
salvation.  Who  cares  about  a  distant  heaven  apart  from  God  ?  Fancy  may 
paint  it  with  rainbow  colours  and  adorn  it  with  all  conceivable  beauty  and 
sweetness,  and  thus  make  it  altogether  a  blissful  and  romantic  abode  high 
above  the  clouds.  To  the  stern  eye  of  faith  this  bright  picture  of  elysium  is 
visionary,  a  pleasant  dream,  nothing  more.  The  wishes,  fancies,  aspirations 
of  all  who  live  in  the  flesh,  however  religious  they  may  be,  will  always  look 
forward  to  a  land  of  joy,  where  all  the  pleasant  objects  and  relationships  of 
this  life  have  been  transferred.  But  the  decrees  of  Heaven  are  not  as  men's 
wishes.  Nor  do  the  spiritually-minded  covet  a  dream-land  agreeable  to 
the  senses.  They  do  not,  as  others  do,  pray  to  God  for  heaven  hereafter  ; 
they  pray  to  God  for  life  in  God,  and  deem  any  other  heaven  an  impiety 
and  a  sacrilege.  To  live  day  and  night  in  the  Lord,  with  thoughts,  feelings 
and  deeds  all  centred  in  Him  alone,  that  is  what  they  seek  as  their  heaven. 
Blessed  are  they  whose  souls  always,  and  in  all  circumstances,  dwell  lovingly 
in  the  Lord,  for  they  dwell  in  heaven.  Indeed,  there  is  heaven  here  as  well 
as  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave.  Even  in  the  midst  of  the  pressing  activi- 
ties of  business  there  is  heaven.     Even  in  earthly  places  shines  the  light  of 

47 


370  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

heaven.  Are  you  engaged  in  the  ordinary  duties  of  domestic  life  surrounded 
by  your  family  and  children  ?  Are  you  serving  as  a  clerk  in  a  mercantile  office 
or  as  an  apprentice  in  some  manufactory  ?  Are  you  inditing  in  the  cabinet 
chamber  elaborate  minutes  on  complicated  economic  questions  upon  which 
hangs  the  fate  of  an  entire  nation  ?  There,  even  there  you  may  occasionally 
feel  around  you  an  encompassing  heaven  if  the  heart  is  with  God.  "Wherever 
you  may  be,  if  the  soul  dwells  in  the  All-Soul,  you  are  in  heaven  !  Say  not  of 
heaven,  it  is  lo  !  here,  lo  !  there,  for  it  is  within.  If  you  keep  near  your  God 
you  cannot  be  far  from  heaven,  for  your  God  is  your  heaven.  You  need  not 
repair  to  heaven,  there  to  meet  the  Heavenly  Father,  for  where  the  Heavenly 
Father  is,  there  surely  is  heaven.  And  where  is  He  not  ?  Above,  below,  here, 
there  and  everywhere  is  He.  I  turn  to  the  right,  He  is  here  ;  I  turn  to  the  left, 
lo  !  He  is  there.  How  real,  how  sweet  His  presence  !  How  thrilling,  how  solemn 
and  holy  !  I  tell  you,  brethren,  in  all  seriousness,  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  en- 
circles you  as  a  holy  and  sweet  presence.  To  be  conscious  of  this  is  heaven. 
Cultivate  in  the  depths  of  the  heart  this  consciousness  of  a  holy  and  loving 
Father  and  Friend  encircling  you  by  His  arms,  and  you  will  feel  as  if  you  are  in 
the  Holy  of  holies,  and  you  will  have  nothing  left  to  desire  here  or  hereafter.  It 
cannot  be  that  you,  who  trust  in  the  Great  God  and  hold  communion  with 
Him,  have  never  seen  heaven.  The  truth  is,  we  have  seen  it  now  and  then, 
but  have  forgotten  it,  and  dismissed  it  from  our  thoughts  and  aspirations. 
Men  often  realize  heaven  during  prayer  and  communion,  but  they  lose  it  as 
soon  as  they  enter  upon  worldly  avocations.  If  we  could,  by  proper  culture, 
always  keep  alive  the  consciousness  of  the  in-dwelling  Spirit  of  God,  and 
cherish  it  in  all  places,  and  amid  the  various  duties  of  life,  we  would  assuredly 
live  altogether  in  heaven.  Strive  then,  my  friends,  to  realize  this  spiritual 
heaven  as  a  present  reality,  by  living  entirely  in  the  Spirit-God,  and  banish 
all  illusory  dreams  of  a  distant  paradise  above  the  clouds.  Believe  that  God 
is  heaven,  and  seek  heaven  in  God.  Remember  that  he  is  a  true  believer  who 
seeks  no  other  heaven  but  God.  How  beautifully  is  the  Hindu  idea  of  a  true 
devotee  set  forth  in  the  Bhagavata  !  There  the  Lord  describes  His  own  de- 
voted disciple  in  language  such  as  this  :  "  My  devotee  is  satisfied  with  me, 
and  he  feels  on  all  sides  heavenly  sweetness,  his  heart  has  been  surrendered 
to  me,  and  he  desires  nothing  besides  me.  Even  salvation  he  desires  not, 
and  even  the  heavens  above  he  despises." 

Thus   with    Keshub  the   evidence  and   ideas  of  God 
and  heaven  are  not  drawn  from   metaphysics   and   the 


IDEAS   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF  GOD-FORCE.        371 

stock  arguments  of  Natural  Theology,  but  from  the  all- 
encompassing  Force  and  Life  which  appeals  to  the 
eye  and  the  ear,  and  through  them  to  the  heart,  which 
is  near  and  immediate  to  everyone.  In  his  lecture  on 
God-vision,  he  gives  three  illustrations  of  God-Force. 
The  first  is  the  machinery  of  the  clock  with  the  dial 
taken  off.  "  Take  off  the  huge  dial  from  the  face  of 
the  universe.  Then  you  will  see  the  secret  springs  of 
the  machinery  which  keep  the  universe  in  working 
order.  Each  wheel  in  its  place,  and  the  primary  force 
quickens  and  regulates  the  movements  of  all  the 
wheels,  and  gives  them  law  and  method,  force  and 
harmony.  Put  the  dial  on  again.  You  see  only  out- 
side nature.  .  .  .You  perceive  movements  and  pheno- 
mena only,  but  you  do  not  comprehend  them.  You 
have  no  access  to  the  hidden  secret."*  The  second 
illustration  is  a  tree,  with  its  branches,  blossoms,  fruits 
and  foliage.  The  secret  and  inexplicable  vitality  of 
the  tree  lies  in  the  root.  "  Is  not  the  universe  a 
mighty  tree,  the  wonder  of  ages  ?  Who  supplies  it  with 
life  ?  Uncover  the  root,  and  you  at  once  see  how  it 
supplies  sap  and  strength.  The  root  explains  the  tree. 
The  root-force  upholds  the  universe,  and  explains  it." 
The  third  illustration  is  a  child  clinging  to  its  mother's 
breast.  The  mother  explains  the  child,  she  is  its 
philosophy,  she  is  the  reason  of  its  life,  and  its  nourish- 
ment ;  her  tender  arms  are  its  home,  her  breast  its 
food  and  drink.... Behold  the  universe,  held  on  the  arms 
of  the  Supreme  Mother,    who  is    incessantly   pouring, 

*  This  may  be  construed  as  some  support  of  the  argument  from  Design. 


372  LIFE   OF   KESHUE   CHUNDER   SEN. 

through  secondary  forces,  the  milk  of  life  and  strength 
into  all  objects  and  beings.  .  .  .Every  little  child  is  sus- 
tained by  its  mother ;  every  tree  is  sustained  by  its 
roots  ;  the  mainspring  causes  and  sustains  the  move- 
ments of  the  wheels  in  every  time-piece."  He  next 
speaks  of  God-Force  in  humanity.  "  Every  prophet  who 
came  down  from  heaven,  as  an  emanation  of  spirit-force 
from  the  Almighty,  went  back  to  Him  as  Christ  did, 
after  fulfilling  his  mission.  .  .  .Not  only  is  Christ  there, 
but  there  are  also  Moses  and  Elias,  and  all  the  Jewish 
prophets  of  olden  times,  and  Paul,  and  all  the  apostles. 
And  Chaitanya  too,  the  blessed  prophet  of  India,  and 
the  immortal  Sakya  Muni,  and  Confucius  and  Zoroaster 
too.  All  our  masters  are  there  assembled..  .Oh 
blessed  confraternity  of  disembodied  spirits  !  How  they 
all  shine  in  the  light  of  the  Central  Sun,  and  reflect  his 
glory.  Celestial  spirit-forces  aminated  by  the  Supreme 
Spirit.  .  .  .As  here  all  terrestrial  and  material  forces,  so 
above  all  celestial  and  moral  forces  we  call  prophets, 
are  vivified  by  the  Primary  Moral  Force.  .  .  .All  the 
prophets  dwell  in  God,  and  draw  their  spiritual  nourish- 
ment, and  inspiration  from  Him."*  In  his  lecture  on 
u  That  Marvellous  Mystery,  The  Trinity,"  Keshub 
profoundly  describes  the  idea  of  the  Hindu  Brahma, 
and  the  Christian  Logos,  as  well  as  the  process  of 
creation  : — 

"  Give  your  imagination  wings,  and  let  it  soar  higher  and  higher  through 
bygone  epochs.  Let  it  start  on  a  long  voyage  athwart  the  noisy  ages  of 
history,  and  the  crowded  scenes  of  human  activity.     Let  its  pinions  press  on, 

*  God-vision  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


DOCTRINE    OF   BRAHMA,    OR    THE   LOGOS.  373 

swift  as  lightning,  stopping  nowhere,  leaving  nation  after  nation  behind, 
epoch  after  epoch  of  the  remotest  antiquity,  till  it  is  ushered  into  the  regions 
of  eternal  silence.  Here  the  Supreme  Brahma  of  the  Veda  and  the  Vedanta 
dwells  hid  in  Himself.  Here  sleeps  the  mighty  Jehovah  with  might  yet 
unmanifested.  Eternal  and  awful  silence  reigns  on  all  sides.  Not  an  event 
stirs  the  ocean  of  time,  not  an  object  is  to  be  seen  in  the  vast  ocean  of  space. 
Not  a  breath  ruffles  the  serene  bosom  of  sleeping  infinity.  Impenetrable 
darkness  above  and  below,  before  and  behind  !  In  shoreless  immensity  is 
the  mind  lost.  Here  is  nought  that  the  eye  can  see,  or  the  ear  hear.  Yet 
here,  they  say,  the  Eternal  Spirit  dwelleth.  Who  can  realize  the  Infinite 
Being.  Who  can  comprehend  the  Mysterious  One  ?  Thought  cannot 
approach  Him.  The  mind  understands  not  who  or  what  He  is.  How  sub- 
lime is  the  passage  in  the  Rigveda  in  which  the  ancient  Hindu  Rishi  speaks 
of  the  Unknowable  One  : — 

There  was  neither  Aught  nor  Naught,  nor  air,  nor  sky  beyond 
What  covered  all  ?  Where  rested  all  ?  In  watery  gulf  profound  ? 
Nor  death  was  there,  nor  deathlessness,  nor  change  of  night  and  day. 
That  One  breathed  calmly,  self-sustained  ;  nought  else  beyond  It  lay. 
Gloom  hid  in  gloom  existed  first, — One  sea,  eluding  view. 

So  sang  the  ancient  bard  rapt  in  wonder.  What  more  can  the  poet  or 
philosopher  declare  of  the  strange  Being  who  existed  before  the  creation 
began  ?  It  was  neither  naught  nor  aught,  neither  night  nor  day.  What 
was  it  ?  Who  can  say  ?  It  seemed  to  be  the  dark  reign  of  death.  Power 
there  was,  but  fettered  in  sleep.  The  tremendous  activity,  where  was  it  ? 
Hushed  and  enveloped  in  profound  silence.  If  Divinity  there  was,  it  was  the 
Divinity  of  darkness  and  silence.  But  anon  the  scene  changes.  Lo  !  a  voice 
is  heard,  it  is  terrible.  Like  the  deafening  peals  of  artillery  it  shook  the 
foundations  of  the  ancient  city  of  silence.  Creation  sprang.  The  sun,  the 
moon,  the  stars  in  clusters  were  strewn  round  high  heaven  in  profusion.  And 
lo  !  beauty  and  symmetry,  harmony  and  order,  science  and  law,  life  and  light 
and  love,  all  came  streaming  from  that  one  creative  fiat,  that  Almighty  Word. 
Yes  it  was  the  Word  that  created  the  universe.  They  call  it  Logos.  Right- 
ly they  call  it  by  that  significant  name.  AVhat  was  it  but  a  sound,  a  voice,  a 
word,  a  breath  put  forward  by  Infinite  Power  that  created  the  mighty 
universe.  What  was  creation  but  the  wisdom  of  God  going  out  of  its  secret 
chambers,  and  taking  a  visible  shape,  His  potential  energy  asserting  itself  in 
unending  activity  ?  The  dormant  will  stirred  itself,  and  as  it  stirred  itself  there 


374  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

came  forth  world  after  world  leaping  out  of  the  bosom  of  God.  Force  there 
was,  but  it  spake  not,  and  was  speechless.  As  it  spake,  and  the  solemn  fiat 
went,  "Let  there  be  light,"  instantly  there  was  light.  That  voice,  once 
uttered,  has  ever  since  rolled  backward  and  forward  through  the  amplitudes  of 
space,  creating  fresh  forms  of  light  and  life,  East,  West,  North,  and  South. 
Creation  means  not  a  single  act,  but  a  continued  process.  It  began,  but 
has  gone  on  for  endless  ages  ever  since  it  began.  It  is  nothing  but  a 
continued  evolution  of  creative  force,  a  ceaseless  emanation  of  power  and 
wisdom  from  the  Divine  mind.  The  silent  Divinity  began  to  speak,  and  His 
speech,  His  word,  a  continued  breathing  of  force  is  creation.  "What  a  grand 
metaphor  is  the  Logos  !  The  Hindu  too  like  the  Christian  believes  in  the 
continued  evolution  of  the  Logos,  and  its  graduated  development  through  the 
ever-advancing  stages  of  life.  The  Puranas  speak  of  different  manifestations 
or  incarnations  of  the  Deity  in  different  epochs  of  the  world's  history.  Lo  ! 
the  Hindu  Avatar  rises  from  the  lowest  scale  of  life  through  the  fish,  the 
tortoise,  and  the  hog  up  to  the  perfection  of  humanity.  Indian  Avatarism  is 
indeed  a  crude  representation  of  the  ascending  scale  of  Divine  creation. 
Such  precisely  is  the  modern  theory  of  evolution.  How  from  the  lowest 
forms  of  gross  matter  is  evolved  the  vitality  of  the  vegetable  world  in  all  its 
fulness  and  luxuriance  !  And  then  from  the  most  perfect  and  vital  types  of 
vegetable  life  springs  the  least  in  the  animal  kingdom,  which  again  rises, 
through  endless  and  growing  varieties  to  the  very  highest  intelligence  and 
sagacity.  But  creation  stops  not  here.  From  animal  life  it  ascends  to 
humanity,  and  finds  its  full  development  in  man.  In  the  evolution  of  man, 
however,  creation  is  not  exhausted.  It  goes  further  and  further  still  along 
the  course  of  progressive  humanity.  In  the  earliest  phase  of  his  life,  whether 
in  the  little  infant,  or  the  primitive  barbarian,  man,  with  all  his  highly  finished 
organism,  is  but  a  creature  of  God.  Through  culture  and  education  he  rises 
in  the  scale  of  humanity,  till  he  rises  to  the  son  of  God.  You  see  how  the 
Lord  asserted  His  power  and  established  his  dominion  in  the  material  and 
animal  kingdom,  and  then  in  the  lower  world  of  humanity.  "When  that  was 
done  the  volume  of  the  Old  Testament  was  closed.  The  New  Testament 
commenced  with  the  birth  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  Logos  was  the  beginning 
of  creation,  and  its  perfection  too  was  the  Logos,  the  culmination  of  humani- 
ty in  the  Divine  Son." 

We  have  already  said  how  the  association  of  Param- 
hansa  Ram  Krishna  developed  the    conception    of   the 


ADOPTION   OF   HINDU  MYTHOLOGY.  375 

Motherhood  of  God  which  had  often  enough  occurred 
in  Keshub's  mind  before,  and  found  utterance  in  the 
pressure  of  his  trials  and  sorrows.  In  the  Paramhansa's 
teaching  there  was  another  remarkable  characteristic. 
This  sweet-souled  devotee  had  gathered  the  essential  con- 
ceptions of  Hindu  polytheism  into  an  original  structure 
of  eclectic  spirituality.  Take  for  instance  the  concep- 
tion of  Shiva.  The  Paramhansa  often  said  he  realized 
Shiva  as  the  incarnation  of  the  contemplativeness  of 
Yoga.  Forgetful  of  all  worldly  care,  absorbed  in  the 
meditation  of  the  ineffable  perfections  of  the  Supreme 
Brahma,  impenetrable  by  pain,  passion,  toil,  or  lone- 
liness, ever  joyful  in  the  blessedness  of  divine  commu- 
nion, silent,  serene,  immovable  like  the  Himalayas 
which  are  his  abode,  Mahadeva  is  the  ideal  of  all  God- 
absorbed  men.  Then  perhaps  he  would  talk  of  Krishna 
whom  he  realized  as  the  incarnation  of  divine  love. 
Behold,  he  would  say,  the  face  of  Krishna  as  repre- 
sented popularly.  Does  it  resemble  a  man's  face  or 
a  woman's  ?  Is  there  a  shadow  of  sensuality  in  it,  a 
hair  of  masculine  coarseness  ?  It  is  a  tender  female 
face  that  Krishna  has,  in  it  there  is  the  fulness  of 
boyish  delicacy,  and  girlish  grace.  By  his  affec- 
tionateness,  many-sided  and  multiform,  he  won  the 
hearts  of  men  and  women  to  the  religion  of  Bhakti. 
That  divine  love  may  take  the  form  of  every  sanctified 
relation  in  life  is  the  great  mission  of  Krishna  to  prove. 
As  the  loving  child  absorbing  all  the  fondness  of  the 
parent's  heart ;  as  the  loving  friend  drawing  the  deepest 
loyalty  and  love  ;    as  the  adored  master  the  sweetness 


376  LIFE    OF   KESHUE    CHUNDER    SEN. 

and  truth  of  whose  teaching  converted  both  the  sexes, 
women  specially,  to  the  consecration  of  a  heartfelt  piety, 
Krishna,  said  the  Paramhansa,  brought  the  religion 
of  love  into  Hindustan.  Thus  though  a  Hindu  of 
Hindus,  Ramkrishna  was  not  a  Hindu  of  the  ordinary 
type.  He  was  not  a  Shivaite,  not  a  Shakta,  not  a 
Vedantist ;  yet  he  was  the  totality  of  all  these.  He 
worshipped  Shiva,  he  worshipped  Kali,  Rama,  Krishna, 
he  was  a  confirmed  advocate  of  Vedantic  doctrines. 
He  was  a  believer  in  idolatry,  and  yet  a  faithful  and 
most  devoted  meditator  of  the  perfections  of  the  Great 
Formless  One,  whom  he  called  the  Akhanda  Sach-chida- 
iianda  (the  undivided  truth,  wisdom,  and  joy).  This 
strange  eclecticism  suggested  to  Keshub's  appreciative 
mind  the  thought  of  broadening  the  spiritual  structure 
of  his  own  movement.  His  mind,  which  was  becoming 
more  and  more  mystical,  threw  itself  into  the  me- 
taphorical profundity  of  the  Eastern  imagination.  The 
national  conceptions  of  the  Divine  attributes  spontane- 
ously recommended  themselves  as  beautiful  and  true, 
and  also  as  the  surest  means  of  making  his  faith 
intelligible  and  acceptable  to  the  land.  Of  course  he 
kept  the  simple  universal  basis  of  Theism  intact.  But 
from  a  Theistic  point  of  view  he  gave  the  most  brilliant 
expositions  of  the  teachings  of  mythology.  These  re- 
formed expositions  have  been  utilised  by  orthodox  cham- 
pions to  bring  about  a  re-action  on  behalf  of  popular 
idolatry.  The  philosophy  of  the  whole  question  was 
summarized  by  him  in  the  Sunday  Mirror  thus  : — 


ASSIMILATION   OF   HINDU   IDEAS.  377 

"  Hindu  idolatry  is  not  altogether   to   be  rejected   or  overlooked,     as  we 
explained  some  time  ago  it  represents  millions  of  broken  fragments  of  God. 
Collect  them  together,   and  you  get   the  indivisible  divinity.     When  Hindus 
lost  sight   of  their  great  God,  they  contented  themselves  with  retaining  par- 
ticular aspects  of  Him,  and  representing  them  in  human  shapes  or  images. 
Their  idolatry  is  nothing  but  the  worship  of  a  divine  attribute  materialized. 
If  the  material  shape  is  given  up,   what  remains  is  a  beautiful  allegory  or 
picture  of  Heaven's  dispensations.     The   Theist   rejects  the  image,  but  he 
cannot  dispense  with  the  spirit  of  which  that  image  is  the  form.     The  revival 
of  the  spirit,    the   destruction  of  the   form,  is  the  work  of  the  New  Dispen- 
sation.    Cheer  up,  O  Hindus,  for  the  long-lost  Father  from  whom  ye  have 
for  centuries  strayed  away  is  coming  back  to  you.     The  road  is  clear  enough  ; 
it  lies  through  our  numerous  Puranas  and  epics.     Never  were  we  so  much 
struck  with   the  divinity  of  the  eclectic  method  as  when  we  explored  the 
gloomy  regions  of  mythological  India.     The    sermons  now  delivered  in  the 
Brahma   Mandir,  are  solely   occupied   with  the   precious    truths   discovered 
therein,   and  our  own  occupation  is  merely  to  gather  the  jewels  as  we  go  on. 
We  have  found  out  that  every  idol  worshipped  by  the  Hindu  represents  an 
attribute  of  God,   and  that  each  attribute  is  called  by  a  peculiar  name.     The 
believer  in  the  New  Dispensation  is  required  to  worship  God  as  the  possessor 
of  all  those  attributes,   represented  by  the  Hindu  as  innumerable,    or  330 
millions.     To   believe  in  an  undivided  Deity,  without  reference  to  the  aspects 
of  His  nature  is  to  believe  in  an  abstract  God,  and  it  would  lead  us  to   practi- 
cal rationalism   and  infidelity.     If  we  are  to  worship  Him  in  all  His  manifest- 
ations, we  shall   name  one   attribute   Lakshmi,    another   Saraswati,    another 
Mahadeva   &c,   and  worship  God  each  day  under  a  new  name,  that  is  to  say 
in  a  new  aspect." 

It  might  be  difficult  for  most  Theists  outside  of  India 
to  realize  that  "  the  worship  of  an  undivided  Deity  would 
lead  to  practical  rationalism  and  infidelity,"  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  in  point  of  fact  every  form  of  popular 
religion  has  always  divided  the  Divine  nature  into 
fundamental  ideas,  and  that  on  Keshub's  part  an  adop- 
tion of  these  various  Hindu  aspects  and  conceptions 
tended  on  the  one  hand  to  enrich  the  monotheism  of  the 

48 


378  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

New  Dispensation,  and  on  the  other  to  offer  a  reason- 
able explanation  of  Hindu  polytheism.     This  was  really 
helpful  in   reconciling  Keshub's   exalted  precepts  with 
the  great  religious  systems  of  India.     Thus  "  gathering 
the  fragments   of  the  divine    attributes  and  conceptions 
into    a   focus    of  un-divided   Deity,"    is   what   Keshub 
calls    his    synthesis    of    the     perception    of    God ;     and 
"  worshipping   God  in    His   various    aspects    and  attri- 
butes" is  his  analysis.     In  his  Bengali    sermons    about 
this   time,    he    accordingly  took    up    Hindu  gods    and 
goddesses   by    name,    and    explained    the    conceptions 
that  underlay  each.    This  made  him  exceedingly  popular 
with    large   sections    of  the    Hindu    community,    but   it 
led  also  to  the  accusation  that  the  leader  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj     was    dallying    with    popular   superstition,    and 
showing  signs   that   he  would  soon  merge  into  the  gulf 
of  the  great  idolatry  around.     We  have  already  alluded 
to  the  sagacity  with  which  Keshub  balanced  the  Hindu 
tendencies  of  his  movement  with  the  adoption  of  Chris- 
tian ideas,   so  as  to  make  steady  harmonious  progress 
with  his    secret  work  of  organizing  a  perfect  National 
Church.     His  famous  lectures  on  "  India  Asks  :  Who  is 
Christ,"  and  "  That   Marvellous  Mystery,  The  Trinity  ' 
were  delivered  in  1879  and   1882    respectively.     In    1866 
we   found  Keshub  in   his  lecture  on  Jesus  Christ  asking 
"  Is  not  Christ  above  humanity  r"  And  he  had  answered 
his  own   question   with  the  exclamation  ll  Verily,  Jesus 
is  above   ordinary   humanity."     The   recurrence   of  the 
same  adjective  in  both  the  question  and  answer  suggests 
that  Christ's  humanity  in  the   speaker's   mind    was   ex- 


ASSIMILATION   OF   CHRISTIAN   IDEAS.  379 

traordinary.  In  1879  after  a  decade  of  thought  and 
culture  he  substitutes  the  word  divine  for  extraordinary. 
He  commences  his  lecture  on  "  India  Asks  :  who  is 
Christ "  with  these  words  "  I  desire  to  discourse  on  the 
great  subject  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus."  Christ,  he 
says,  "  strikes  the  key  note  of  his  doctrine  in  the  formula 
'  I  and  my  Father  are  one.'  This  was  an  announce- 
ment of  identity  with  the  Godhead."  In  analyzing  this 
announcement,  Keshub  says  he  finds  "  nothing  but  the 
philosophical  principle  underlying  the  popular  doctrine 
of  self-abnegation  in  a  very  lofty  spiritual  sense. 
Christ  destroyed  self.  And,  as  self  ebbed  away,  heaven 
came  pouring  into  his  soul.  For  nature  abhors  a 
vacuum  ;  and  hence,  as  soon  as  nature  is  emptied  of 
self;  Divinity  fills  the  void.  The  nature  of  the  Lord 
filled  him,  and  everything  was  divine  in  him."  "  He 
always  felt  that  the  root  of  his  being  was  God  himself, 
a  fact  of  which  we  are  not  always  conscious.  He  had 
his  life  rooted  in  Divinity.  He  always  felt  that  the 
Lord  was  underlying  his  whole  existence.  And  there- 
fore, without  equivocation,  and  with  all  the  boldness 
and  candor  of  conscious  simplicity,  he  proclaimed  unto 
the  world  the  fact  that  he  was  one  with  God."  Keshub 
also  spoke  of  the  preexistence  of  Christ.  Christ  before 
his  birth  formed  a  part  of  the  divine  plan  for  the  future 
good  of  mankind.  The  omniscience  of  God  knew  from 
the  beginning  the  destinies  of  all  men.  His  perfect 
knowledge  saw  in  their  fullest  relations  the  causes  and 
consequences  of  human  sin  and  salvation.  Both  the 
evil    and    deliverance    from    the    power   of    evil    were 


580  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDEK    SEX. 

present  in  the  divine  consciousness  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world.  The  future  Christ,  as  God  had  meant  to 
create  him,  the  potential  energy  of  the  as  yet  unborn 
Christ,  existed  in  the  eternal  depths,  in  the  dispensation 
which  was  to  come  in  the  fulness  of  time.  In  that 
stage,  Christ  certainly  had  no  personality.  He  was  the 
thought  and  energy  of  God.  "  Christ  pre-existed  as 
an  idea,  as  a  plan  of  life,  as  a  pre-determined  dispen- 
sation yet  to  be  realized,  as  a  purity  of  character  not 
concrete,  but  abstract."*  Regarding  the  resurrection 
and  immortality  of  Christ,  he  says,  Jesus  lives  in 
heaven  not  as  an  impersonal  and  absorbed  essence 
of  the  divine  consciousness  which  he  was  before 
he  came  to  the  world,  nor  as  a  material  form  with 
which  popular  imagination  clothes  him,  but  as  a 
separate  personified  soul,  in  its  own  sphere  of  blessed- 
ness, acheiving  a  higher  and  still  higher  standard  of 
perfection,  than  was  ever  known  in  his  life  on  earth. 
His  perfection  on  earth  was  relative,  his  perfection  in 
heaven  is  ever  tending  to  be  absolute.  But  among  us 
to-day  he  lives  as  a  great  leaven.  "  He  lives,"  says 
Keshub,  "  in  all  Christian  lives,  and  in  all  Christian 
influence  at  work  around  us.  You  may  deny  his  doc- 
trine, you  may  even  hate  his  name,  but  you  cannot 
resist  his  influence.  Christ  exists  throughout  Christen- 
dom like  an  all-pervading  leaven,  mysteriously  and 
imperceptibly  leavening  the  bias  of  millions  of  men 
and  women/'  The  last  time  that  Keshub  makes  a 
public   statement   on   the   subject   of   Christ   is    in   his 

'   India  Abkb  .   Who  is  Christ. 


DOCTRINE   OF   THE   TRINITY.  381 


celebrated  lecture  on  "  That  Marvellous  Mystery,  the 
Trinity."  We  have  already  given  his  views  on  the 
Logos,  the  Father  and  Creator,  the  evolution  of  the 
universe,  and  its  development  into  the  humanity  of  the 
Son  of  God.  He  speaks  next  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
then  elucidates  the  mission  of  Christ.  "  Here  you  have 
the  complete  triangular  figure  of  the  Trinity,  three 
profound  truths,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  making  up  the  harmonious  whole  of  the  economy 
of  creation.  Look  at  this  clear  triangular  figure  with 
the  eye  of  faith,  and  study  its  deep  mathematics.  The 
apex  is  the  very  God  Jehovah,  the  Supreme  Brahma  of 
the  Vedas.  Alone,  in  his  eternal  glory,  he  dwells. 
From  him  comes  down  the  Son  in  a  direct  line,  an 
emanation  from  Divinity.  Thus,  God  descends  and 
touches  one  end  of  the  base  of  humanity,  then,  running 
all  along  the  base,  permeates  the  world,  and  then  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  drags  up  regenerated 
humanity  to  himself.  Divinity  coming  down  to  hu- 
manity is  the  Son.  Divinity  carrying  up  humanity  to 
heaven  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  the  whole  philo- 
sophy of  salvation.  ..  .The  Father  continually  mani- 
fests his  wisdom  and  mercy  in  creation,  till  they  take  the 
pure  form  of  Sonship  in  Christ,  and  then  out  of  one 
little  seed  Christ,  is  evolved  a  whole  harvest  of  endless 
and  ever-multiplying  Christs.  God  coming  down  and 
going  up — this  is  creation,  this  is  salvation.  In  this 
plain  figure  of  three  lines,  you  have  the  solution  of  a 
vast  problem.  The  Father  ;  the  Son  ;  the  Holy  Ghost » 
the    Creator,    the    Exemplar,    the    Sanctifier ;    I  am,    I 


$82  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER    SEN. 

love,  I  save  ;  the  Still  God,  the  Journeying  God,  the 
Returning  God  ;  Force,  Wisdom,  Holiness,  the  True, 
Good,  the  Beautiful  ;  Saf>  Chit,  Anaiida>  Truth,  In- 
telligence, Joy." 

This  doctrine  of  Christ  Keshub  applies  to  his  whole 
theory  of  Great  Men.  His  loyalty  to  Jesus  involves 
his  loyalty  to  all  the  other  masters.  He  speaks  thus  : — 
"  Do  not  the  Christian  Fathers  speak  of  an  all-pervad- 
ing Christ  r  Do  they  not  bear  unequivocal  testimony  to 
Christ  in  Socrates  ?  Even  in  barbarian  philosophy,  and 
in  all  Hellenic  literature,  they  saw  and  adored  their 
Logos  Christ.  I  deny  and  repudiate  the  little  Christ  of 
popular  theology,  and  stand  up  for  a  greater  Christ,  a 
fuller  Christ,  a  more  eternal  Christ,  a  more  universal 
Christ.  I  plead  for  the  eternal  Logos  of  the  Fathers, 
and  I  challenge  the  world's  assent.  This  was  the 
Christ  who  was  in  Greece  and  Rome,  in  Egypt  and 
India.  In  the  bards  and  poets  of  the  Rigveda  was  he. 
He  dwelt  in  Confucius  and  in  Sakya  Muni.  This  is  the 
true  Christ  whom  I  see  everywhere,  in  all  lands  and  in 
all  times,  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  in  Africa,  in  America, 
in  ancient  and  in  modern  times.  He  is  not  the  mono- 
poly of  any  nation  or  creed.  All  literature,  all  science, 
all  philosophy,  every  doctrine  that  is  true,  every  form 
of  righteousness,  every  virtue  that  belongs  to  the  Son, 
is  the  true  subjective  Christ  whom  all  ages  glorify." 
In  his  lecture  on  "  God-vision,"  Keshub's  asks,  "  Do  you 
not  believe  that  all  true  spirits  have  a  mutual  affinity, 
a   close  kinship   towards   each   other,  and  that  they  all 

*  That  Marvellous  Mystery,  The  Trinity. 


CHRIST  AND   OTHER   MASTERS.  383 

abide  together  in  the  Lord,  and  together  they   eat  the 
bread  of  life,  and  drink  the  nectar  of  joy  in  heaven  ?   .  . 
Behold   the   whole  family  of  saints   and   prophets,   all 
united  with  each   other,   and   united   in   the   Lord  !  Not 
only  is  Christ  there,  but  there  are  also  Moses  and  Elias, 
and  all  the  Jewish  prophets  of  olden   times,   and  Paul 
and   all  the  apostles.     And  Chaitanya  too,  the  blessed 
prophet  of  India,  and  the  immortal   Sakya   Muni,   and 
Confucius,  and  Zoroaster  too.     All  our  masters  are  there 
assembled.     Seated  on  smaller  thrones   they   surround 
the   throne   of  the  Great  Spirit,  whose  glory  is  in  them, 
and  in  whose  glory  they  dwell.     Oh,  blessed   confrater- 
nity of  disembodied   souls  !   How   they  all  strive  in  the 
light  of  the  central  Sun,  and  reflect   His  glory  !  Celes- 
tial spirit-forces   animated  by  the  Supreme  Spirit.     As 
here  all  terrestrial   and   material  forces,   so   above,   all 
celestial  and  moral  forces,  we  call  prophets,  are  vivified 
by  the  Primary  Moral  Force." 

All  the  lectures,  delivered  in  different  parts  of  India, 
and  in  England,  established  Keshub's  reputation  as 
an  orator.  He  was  the  father  of  the  present  order  of 
English  oratory  in  the  rising  generation  of  Hindus. 
Eloquent  speech,  or  what  is  accepted  as  such,  is  now  an 
ordinary  gift  of  young  men  in  Bengal  and  Bombay,  but 
such  public  speaking  was  all  but  unknown  before  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen's  time.  The  only  man  who  was  looked 
upon  as  a  speaker  was  the  late  Babu  Ram  Gopal  Ghose, 
but  he  spoke  on  rare  occasions,  and  his  utterances 
were,  we  believe,  prepared  beforehand.  Keshub  was 
the  first  to  introduce  the  practice  of  giving  purely  extern- 


384  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEX. 

porary  lectures  on  religious  and  philosophical  subjects, 
an  adventure  for  which  in  the  beginning  he  was  often 
severely  taken  to  task.  But  he  persevered,  not  because 
of  a  wish  to  be  famous,  but  only  because  his  duties  forced 
the  practice  on  him.  His  fervour,  his  rhetoric,  his 
style,  his  methods,  as  imbibed  by  the  rising  generation 
of  Indian  orators,  have  now  traversed  far  beyond  the 
subjects  to  which  he  confined  himself,  but  whether  it 
be  political  or  social  agitation  in  which  enthusiastic 
Hindus  take  part,  they  all  dig  from  the  great  mines  of 
eloquence  which  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  first  opened  in 
the  national  character  of  modern  India.  He  strongly 
believed  that  the  English  language  had  an  all-import- 
ant mission  in  forming  the  character  and  convictions 
of  his  countrymen.  He  found  it,  and  made  it  more  than 
it  ever  was,  the  connecting  link  between  the  various 
nationalities  and  systems  of  thought  in  India.  Nay  it 
was  the  vehicle  of  communication  between  India  and 
the  whole  civilized  globe.  It  was  the  only  possible 
medium  by  which  anything  like  an  exchange  of  thought 
and  aspiration  could  be  made  between  the  present  race  of 
Hindus,  and  those  with  whom  lies  the  duty  of  educating 
them.  Keshub  therefore  from  very  early  age  cultivated 
the  habit  of  speaking  and  writing  the  English  lan- 
guage. Earlier  even  than  the  Colutolah  Evening  School 
in  1855,  he  formed  diverse  juvenile  organizations  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made  in  page  100.  At  the 
meetings  of  these  societies,  Keshub  indulged  in  extem- 
poraneous speeches,  uncut  exuberances  of  rhetoric,  un- 
digested   poetry,   youthful    speculations    and    emotions 


KESHUB  AS  A   SPEAKER.  385 

mostly  imported  from  school-books,  that  lasted  gener- 
ally for  two  or  three  hours.  We  had  not  the  courage 
to  run  away  from  these  performances,  which  truth  to 
say  we  did  not  comprehend,  or  relish,  and  they  sorely 
tried  our  patience,  and  power  of  keeping  awake.  As 
Keshub  grew  up  this  eloquence  became  impassioned 
and  furious,  but  still  retained  its  wordy  extravagance. 
But  as  his  trials  multiplied  upon  him,  and  his  inner 
nature  deepened,  by  a  hidden  process  his  powers  of 
speaking  became  chastened.  The  long  periods,  the 
constant  figures,  the  stereotyped  phrases,  perfectly 
tropical  in  their  luxuriance  and  amplitude,  imperceptibly 
disappeared.  The  rhetoric  contracted,  and  shapened 
itself.  Within  a  few  years  the  dignity,  purity,  and 
power  of  his  English  oratory  drew  the  admiration  of 
finished  English  speakers.  As  in  everything  else,  so 
in  this,  Keshub  was  the  example  of  growth  and  self- 
improvement.  His  Bengali  discourses  were  the  perfect 
models  of  chastity,  and  grace  of  diction.  We  can  name 
eminent  Sanskrit  scholars  who  attended  the  services 
in  the  Brahma  Mandir,  not  from  any  religious  sympathy, 
but  by  the  attraction  of  his  faultless  and  limpid 
eloquence  in  the  Bengali  language.  He  was  free  from 
affectation  and  mannerism  of  every  kind.  He  seldom 
moved  his  hands  and  eyes,  and  never  threw  himself  into 
attitudes.  His  voice,  never  trained,  had  the  solidity, 
modulation,  and  depth  of  natural  music.  His  sentiments 
flowed  without  a  seeming  effort.  Born  master  of  his  own 
vernacular,  which  he  never  took  pains  to  study,  Keshub 
concentrated  his  powers  more  fully  on  the  production  of  a 
49 


38b  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDFR    SEN. 

devotional  and  theological  literature  in  English.  His 
English  lectures,  tracts,  and  articles,  contain  in  a  most 
elaborate  form  his  teachings.  Nobody  who  knew 
Keshub  could  say  that  he  ever  spent  much  time  in  the 
study  of  language  after  coming  out  of  college.  He 
knew  little  of  the  modern  masters  of  English  style, 
and  never  made  any  secret  of  his  scanty  acquaintance 
with  the  literature  of  the  day.  But  nevertheless  his 
utterances  unmistakably  showed  a  mastery  of  language 
and  culture,  attainable  only  by  the  closest  and  most 
painstaking  study.  The  fact  is  he  was  a  tremendously 
true  and  earnest  man.  "Whenever  he  approached  to  the 
discussion  of  any  subject,  he  focussed  upon  its  linea- 
ments the  stupendous  lights  and  intensities  of  his 
genius,  until  every  intricacy  and  depth  lay  revealed. 
The  flood  of  his  oratory  fell  like  a  torrent  from  some 
Himalayan  height,  instantaneous,  vast,  clear,  over- 
powering. It  was  deeper,  and  higher  than  art.  It  was 
nature,  spirit-nature  asserting  its  fulness,  and  might, 
and  majesty.  Well  did  Robert  Knight,  the  ablest  of  our 
Calcutta  journalists,  say,  "  When  Keshub  speaks,  the 
world  listens  \"  Yet  Keshub  says  of  himself  in  one  of 
his  lectures,  "  I  never  learnt  elocution.  I  have  a  wild 
uncultured  sort  of  eloquence  which  means  only  emo- 
tion. If  I  am  excited  I  can  speak.  If  I  am  not,  there 
is  neither  grammar  nor  sense  in  what  I  say,  and  you  will 
be  struck  with  the  poverty  of  my  language.  I  am  sure 
to  break  down  if  I  attempt  to  speak  when  my  feelings 
are  not  properly  roused.  I  am  all  impulse.  When  I  am 
once  excited  you  will  hear  burning  words.     I   will   then 


AS   A   JOURNALIST.  387 

speak  with  power,  and  I  will  certainly  crush  into 
atoms  the  most  impregnable  strongholds  of  error. 
Because  it  is  not  my  force,  my  power,  which  then 
makes  me  speak,  but  the  Lord's.  If  the  Lord  chooses 
to  speak  through  my  tongue,  then  I  am  all  fire,  and 
I  can  speak  not  only  eloquently,  but  I  can  speak  the 
words  of  pure  wisdom  and  truth." 

From  early  youth  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  great 
faith  in  the  power  of  the  press.  The  publications,  both 
in  English  and  the  vernaculars  which  ceasely  flowed 
from  the  Brahmo  Somaj  under  him,  drew  the  warm 
eulogistic  acknowledgements  of  the  Government.  His 
numerous  writings  and  speeches  when  they  are  collected 
will  make  many  volumes.  But  he  had  also  a  great 
belief  in  newspapers.  Every  morning  regularly  he  read 
one  of  the  daily  newspapers.  His  idea  always  was  to 
have  a  powerful  newspaper  organ  in  the  English 
language.  With  this  object  he  founded  the  Indian 
Mirror  in  August  1861,  along  with  some  friends.  When 
the  Indian  Mirror  was  made  over  to  other  hands,  he 
started  the  Sunday  Mirror.  The  Liberal  and  the  New 
Dispensation  followed.  His  journalistic  activities  con- 
tinued to  the  very  last,  and  he  wrote  on  almost  every 
subject,  avoiding  only  party  politics.  Whatever  he 
wrote,  he  wrote  most  deliberately  and  slowly  ;  some- 
times one  word  in  five  seconds.  The  speaking  was 
impulsive,  the  writing  was  most  premeditated.  We 
have  already  spoken  of  the  Bengali  newspapers  which 
he  founded,  but  he  did  not  very  often  write  for  these. 
His    English  journals  had   most  of  his   contributions. 


388  LIFE   OF   KFSHUB   CHUNDFR   SEN. 

Keshub's  journals  were  the  models  of  moderation.  No 
one  has  ever  accused  them  of  the  lack  of  courage  and 
independence,  but  it  is  not  generally  perceived  how 
courteous,  kind,  and  temperate  they  always  were. 
Keshub  made  it  a  point  to  reproduce  in  his  organs  the 
worst  criticisms  against  himself,  and  often  without  any 
comment.  Every  one  had  access  to  his  columns.  He 
never  abused  men  for  holding  views  different  from  his 
own.  In  the  largest  and  truest  sense  he  was  the 
champion  of  the  freedom  of  the  press. 

Many  people  are  under  the  impression  that  the 
Brahmo  Somaj,  like  all  modern  Theistic  sects,  treats  of 
the  important  subject  of  sin  in  a  light  superficial  way, 
holding  the  sinfulness  of  man  to  be  a  mere  fiction,  and 
atonement  a  mere  act  of  supererogation.  Is  it  neces- 
sary to  point  out  that  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  in  the 
very  commencement  of  its  career  struggled  with  a  deep 
sense  of  sin  r  Its  confessions,  its  hymns  of  penitence, 
its  persistent  prayers,  all  bear  united  testimony  to  the 
recognition  of  this  inveterate  disease  of  human  nature. 
But  it  is  no  more  than  a  disease.  It  is  not  a  positive 
creation,  but  a  derangement  of  the  functions  of  the 
spiritual  organism,  a  weakness  of  the  vital  powers,  the 
course  of  healthy  nature  turned  awry,  remedied  as  soon 
as  the  health  and  life  of  the  soul  are  re-established. 
Man  is  composed  of  three  parts  so  to  say.  The  mere 
inert  inanimate  clay  of  flesh  and  blood.  The  physical 
life  and  instincts,  whatever  they  may  be,  which  ani- 
mate the  flesh.  And  the  spirit,  or  mind,  or  conscience, 
or   reason,   however   it  may  be  called,  which  is  the  true 


DOCTRINE   OF   SIN.  389 

child  of  God.  Of  these  the  mere  matter,  and  the  mere 
animal  are  common  to  all  sentient  beings,  and  the 
spirit  is  proper  to  man  alone.  Now  the  free-will  of 
man  is  swayed  by  the  material,  animal,  and  spiritual 
powers  together.  But  we  all  know  that  the  spirit  often 
opposes  the  material  and  the  animal,  and  there  is  a 
struggle  between  the  three.  The  will  decides  every 
such  contest,  siding  either  with  the  spiritual  or  the 
carnal.  If  the  will  is  strong  enough  to  decide  in  favor 
of  the  spirit  and  conscience,  the  result  is  virtue  and 
righteousness.  If  the  will  is  weak,  and  through  weak- 
ness decides  in  favor  of  the  carnal  and  the  material, 
the  result  is  sin.  Sin  thus  resolves  itself  into  the 
weakness  of  the  will.  And  as  all  weakness  is  nega- 
tive, signifying  the  absence  of  strength,  sin  loses  all 
essential  entity,  and  like  darkness  means  the  intense 
negation  of  the  light  of  the  soul.  But  though  perfect- 
ly negative  in  its  essence,  it  assumes  a  very  positive 
form  when  suffered  to  obscure  and  mislead  the 
mental  powers.  Hence  it  will  appear  that  the  will  is 
the  real  seat  of  sin,  and  by  assenting  to  the  lower 
cravings  of  human  nature  originates  unrighteousness. 
From  this  it  will  be  evident  that  so  long  as  the  will 
is  free,  and  the  propensities  of  the  carnal  part  of 
man's  being  are  likely  to  influence  it,  there  is  the  possi- 
bility of  sin,  and  so  long  as  there  is  this  possibility 
man  is  liable  to  fall.  We  have  therefore  to  struggle 
not  only  against  the  actual  commission  of  evil,  or  the 
omission  of  virtue,  but  against  the  thousand  possibili- 
ties of  wrong-doing.     Passions,    desires,   motives,  acts, 


590  LIFE   OF   KESHtJB   CHUNDER   SEX. 

habits  that  tend  to  gratify  bodily  powers  at  the  expense 
of  the  spiritual,  all  go  to  make  up  the  sinful  character 
of  man.  Nothing  but  the  grace  of  God,  obtained 
through  repentance,  prayer,  faith,  dependence  and  holy 
exercises,  combined  with  powerful  attempts  at  self- 
reformation,  can  deliver  man  from  the  ingrained 
carnalities,  and  heavy  inertness  of  his  nature.  The 
more  he  gains  in  spirituality  the  more  free  he  is  from 
the  carnal  and  inanimate  parts  of  his  nature,  and  the 
nearer  he  is  to  salvation.  But,  however  near  he  be  to 
heaven,  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  his  commit- 
ting sin.  Sin  therefore  means  the  proneness  of  the 
will  to  do  anything  that  is  against  the  will  of  God. 
And  salvation  is  entire  oneness  with  the  spirit  and 
will  of  God.  Salvation  is  thus  never  an  act,  but  a 
process.  It  always  tends  to  be  complete,  but  is  never 
so  in  this  earthly  life. 

The  year  1880  began  with  a  characteristic  form  of 
spiritual  culture,  which  Keshub  quaintly  styled  "  Pilgri- 
mages to  Saints  and  Prophets."  This  phrase  has  been 
so  largely  taken  exception  to,  and  so  many  misrepre- 
sentations have  been  made  of  it,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
explain  the  idea  which  gave  it  rise.  From  the  time 
of  his  lecture  on  "Great  Men"  in  1866,  Keshub  con- 
tinually admonished  his  disciples  to  behold  the  Provi- 
dence of  God  in  history,  and  in  humanity.  But  he  did 
not  place  much  practical  importance  upon  the  mere 
recognition  of  the  goodness  and  greatness  of  historical 
characters ;  he  meant  that  his  Church  should  make 
them  "  the  facts  of  its  spiritual  consciousness,"   absorb 


DOCTRINE   OF   PILGRIMAGES   TO   SAINTS.  39 1 

and  assimilate  their  examples,  principles,  and  teach- 
ings. With  this  view  he  proposed  in  February  1880  "  to 
promote  communion  with  departed  saints  among  the 
more  advanced  Brahmos.  With  a  view  to  achieve  this 
object  successfully,  ancient  prophets  and  saints  will  be 
taken  one  after  another  on  special  occasions,  and  made 
the  subject  of  close  study,  meditation,  and  prayer. 
Particular  places  will  be  assigned  to  which  the  devotees 
will  resort  as  pilgrims.  There,  for  hours  together,  they 
will  trv  to  draw  inspiration  from  particular  saints.  We 
believe  a  spiritual  pilgrimage  to  Moses  will  be  shortly 
undertaken.  Only  earnest  devotees  ought  to  join." 
A  week  was  spent  in  discipline  and  preparation,  at 
the  end  of  which,  with  impressive  ceremonies,  and 
solemn  invocations,  the  devotees  concentrated  their 
minds  upon  the  lives  and  precepts  of  particular  pro- 
phets. The  life  of  Moses  was  first  taken  up  because  he 
was  the  eldest  prophet  of  whom  there  are  any  distinct 
records.  But  in  the  course  of  time,  Socrates,  Buddha, 
Jesus,  Mahammed,  Chaitanya  followed,  till  the  list 
came  down  to  Faraday,  Carlyle,  and  Emerson.  Every- 
one will  perceive  the  catholicity  of  Keshub's  ideal  of 
humanity.  He  never  had  anything  to  do  either  by 
study  or  by  influence  with  the  system  of  August  Comte. 
But  in  this  conception  of  humanity  the  two  great  minds 
of  the  century  seemed  to  be  in  clear  contact.  Between 
atheistic  Positivism,  and  apostolic  Theism,  such  un- 
designed coincidence  is  a  singular  testimony  of  truth. 
All  the  great  men,  thus  honoured,  were  accepted 
either    as    prophets    of   religion,    or     philosophy,     or 


392  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CIIUNDFR   SEN. 

morality,    or   science,    and   by    intense  meditation   and 
study  their  teachings  were   realized   in    spiritual   con- 
sciousness.    This  unique  idea,  though   it  excited  deri- 
sion amongst  those  who  were  pledged  to  oppose  Keshub 
in  everything,  was  appreciated  in  unexpected  quarters, 
and    among    others   Mr.    Moncure    Conway    of  wSouth 
Place    Chapel,  Finsbury,    London,    who   had    gone  far 
in  the  direction  of  every  species  of  radicalism,    wrote 
a   characteristic    letter   of    sympathy    he   felt   for   this 
mode  of  spiritual  culture.     The  metaphorical  style  of 
Pilgrimage  given  to  the  process  was,  if  anything,    a 
recommendation  to  thoughtful  minds  of  the  age,  while 
to  the  unimaginative  it  has  ever  remained   as   a  stum- 
bling   block  of  offence.     Keshub   explains   the   whole 
subject  thus. 

"  The  New  Dispensation  is  subjective.  It  aims  at  synthesis,  and  it  aims 
at  subjectivity.  It  endeavours  to  convert  outward  facts  and  characters  into 
facts  of  consciousness.  It  believes  that  God  is  an  objective  reality,  an 
Infinite  Person,  the  Supreme  Father.  In  the  same  manner  it  believes  in  the 
objectivity  of  all  prophets  and  departed  spirits,  each  a  person,  each  a  child 
of  God.  But  the  recognition  of  the  objective  side  of  truth  is  not  the  whole 
philosophy  of  theology.  There  is  a  subjective  side  as  well.  This  latter 
demands  an  equally  faithful  recognition  ;  nay  it  ought  to  excite  much  warmer 
interest.  For  subjectivity  is  of  the  first  importance  to  the  wants  of  the  soul. 
For  who  among  us  does  not  believe  in  the  outward  and  objective  God  ? 
And  yet  how  few  among  professing  Theists  realize  Divinity  in  their  own 
hearts  ?  God  is  not  only  a  Person,  but  also  a  character.  As  a  Person  we 
worship  Him  ;  His  Divine  character  we  must  assimilate  to  our  own  character. 
Tine  worship  is  not  completed  till  the  worshipper's  nature  is  converted  so  as 
to  partake  of  the  nature  of  Divinity.  Worship  is  fruitless  if  it  docs  not 
make  us  heavenly  and  divine.  The  transfer  of  the  outward  Deity  to  subjec- 
tive consciousness  is  the  maturity  of  faith,  the  last  fact  of  salvation.    *  *  *  * 

In  regard  to  the  spirits  of  departed  saints  the  same  argument   holds  good. 


DOCTRINE   OF   SUBJECTIVITY.  393 

If  you  simply  admit  their  entity,   of  what  avail  is  it  to  you  ?     You  have  no 
doubt  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  the  communion  of  saints.     What  is  it  ?     Is 
it  the  superficial  doctrine  of  objective  recognition,  or  is  it  the  deeper  philoso- 
phy  of  subjective   fellowship  ?    You   must    guard    yourselves,     against    the 
evils  arising  from  the  mere   objective  recognition   of  the   world's   prophets 
and   saints.     Nothing   is   so   easy  as  to  say,  O  Jesus,  O  Moses.     This  appre- 
hension of  the  external  reality   of    great   spirits   is   not   communion.     There 
is   Christ,    here   are   we  ;  and   between  us  there  is  a  great  gulf.     There  is  no 
attempt  to  bridge  the  gulf,  and  bring   about   closer   relations.     Hence   is   it 
that   Jesus,    though   good   and   true,    affects   not  our  lives  till  we  realize  him 
within.     The  Christ  of  older  theologies  is  the  barren  outward   fact,   the   dead 
Christ  of  history  and  dogma.     But  the  Christ  of  the  New  Dispensation  is  an 
indwelling    power,    a   living   spirit,    a    fact    of    consciousness.     It    is    this 
philosophy   of  subjectivity  which  underlies  the  Pilgrimages  to  Saints,  as  they 
are  called.     We  have  been  asked  to  explain  what  we  mean  by   these   pilgri- 
mages.    They   are   simply  practical   applications   of  this   principle   of    sub- 
jectivity.    As  pilgrims  we  approach  the  great  saints,  and  commune  with  them 
in  spirit,  killing  the  distance  of  time  and  space.     We   enter  into   them,    and 
they  enter  into   us.     In   our   souls   we   cherish   them,  and   we  imbibe  their 
character  and  principles.     We  are  above  the  popular  error  which   materializes 
the  spirits  of  departed  saints,  and  clothes  them  again  with  the  flesh  and  bones 
which  they  have  for  ever  cast  away.     Nor  do  we  hold  these  human  spirits  to 
be  omnipresent.     We  do  not  say  of  them  that  they  fill  all  space,   and   are 
here,   there,  and  eveiy where.     We  believe  they  still  exist,  but  where  they  are 
we  cannot  tell.     Wherever  they  may  be,  it  is  possible  for  us,  earthly  pilgrims, 
if  we   are   only  men  of  faith  and  prayer,  to  realize  them  in  consciousness.     If 
they  are  not  personally  present  with  us,  they  may   be    spiritually   drawn  into 
our  life   and   character.     They  may  be  made  to  live  and  grow  in  us.     .     .     . 
This  is  a  normal  psychological  progress  to  which  neither  science  nor  theology 
can  take  exception.     Here  is  the  subject  mind,  there  is  the  object — a  prophet 
or  saint.     The  subject,  by  a  mysterious   though  natural  process,  absorbs  the 
object. 

During  the  anniversary  festival  of  1881  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  formally  announced  the  advent  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  both  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Brahma 
Mandir,  and  in  his  annual  English  discourse  in  the  Town 

50 


394  LIFE    0F   KESHUB    CHUNDER    SEN. 

Hall  of  Calcutta.  It  took  no  one  by  surprise,  as  he 
had  been  practically  making  the  announcement  for 
the  last  three  years.  It  was  abundantly  clear  to 
the  entire  public  that  long  before  this  formal  procla- 
mation, the  character  of  the  Theism  introduced  by 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  and  the  various  attendant 
disciplines,  doctrines,  and  ceremonies,  adopted  from 
surrounding  creeds,  showed  his  movement  to  be 
very  different  from  the  colourless  rationalism  of  the 
average  Brahmo  Somaj.  Now  and  then  the  latter 
made  strong  protests  against  his  teachings,  whereas 
not  a  few  congregations  accepted  his  precepts  without 
question.  The  fact  is,  the  leader  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
of  India  had  such  a  stupendous  personality  that  these 
occasional  protests,  strong  as  they  were,  produced  no 
effect  upon  the  public.  Keshub  himself  had  great 
hopes  that  this  factitious  opposition  must  in  the  course 
of  time  die  away,  and  the  ascendant  truth  and  fitness 
of  his  developments  would  overspread  and  permeate 
the  whole  Theistic  movement  in  the  land.  Previous  to 
the  year  1878  therefore,  though  he  never  ceased  to 
make  new  spiritual  achievements,  he  was  as  little 
aggressive  as  possible,  he  did  not  accentuate  the  pecu- 
liarities of  his  doctrine,  he  tried  to  explain  his  classi- 
fications and  ceremonies  as  much  as  possible.  He  was 
careful  and  reserved,  and  discouraged  forwardness  of 
expression.  He  very  much  hesitated  to  shock  Brahmo 
prejudices  and  modes  of  thinking.*  He  believed  that 
slowly  and  silently  the  Brahmo  Somaj   would  reconcile 

*  Sec  page  275. 


THE   NEW  DISPENSATION   PROCLAIMED.  395 

itself  to  all  these  special  cultures  and  ideas.     But  when 
after  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage  a  very  large  and    really 
influential  part   of  the   Church,    not  only   rejected   his 
leadership  but  took  up    a   position  of   uncompromising 
hostility  to  every  great  principle  he  taught,  when  again 
year  after  year,    far   from    any   approach  to  union,  (for 
which  he  secretly  waited  and   longed),    his  opponents 
developed  a  creed  that   seemed   to    him    little   different 
from    the   cold   rationalism    of   Deistic    speculations   in 
other    parts   of  the   world,    Keshub   thought   the   time 
had  come  to  draw  the  line  between  his    followers  and 
the   rest   of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.      He  threw  off  every 
reserve,  and  boldly   differentiated.     He  announced   the 
New  Dispensation  with  deliberate  formalism  and  sacra- 
mental solemnity.     Let  no  one  for  an  instant  imagine, 
however,  that   he  left   the  Brahmo  name,  or  dissolved 
the  organization   of  his  branch   of  the  Brahmo   Somaj. 
On    the   contrary   he    celebrated    the   annual  proceed- 
ings of  the  Conference   of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India 
with  greater  eclat  than   ever.     He  unveiled  a  portrait 
of  Rajah  Ram   Mohun  Roy  on  the  16th  January  in  the 
Albert  Hall  with   an   imposing  speech,  and  suggested 
that   the  next   thing   to  do    in   commemoration   of  the 
Rajah  "was  the  presentation  of  a  medal  to  be  annually 
given   to   the   best   student   of  Natural   Theology   and 
Comparative  Religion."     But   he   determined   that   the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  should  be  henceforward  known 
as  the  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation,  and  he  wanted 
to   give   the   New  Dispensation   as  distinctive,  and   as 
recognizable   a   character   as   possible.     This  character 


396  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

he  meant  should  be  most  orthodox  in  form,  that  cere- 
monies should  form,  at  least  in  the  beginning,  its  chief 
feature.  He  meant  that  the  Society  should  retain  its 
old  name  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  but  its  religion  should 
bear  the  name  of  the  New  Dispensation.  The  achieve- 
ments of  spiritual  progress  had  given  him  a  conscious 
power,  and  he  felt,  like  Napoleon,  that  his  "  power  would 
fall  were  he  not  to  support  it  by  fresh  achievements." 
"  Conquest,"  said  Napoleon  "  has  made  me  what  I  am, 
and  conquest  must  maintain  me."  To  fresh  achieve- 
ments therefore  Keshub  turned  his  mind.  It  has  been 
said,  however,  his  purposes  remained  the  same,  he  began 
to  achieve  these  purposes  through  fresh  methods.  Yet 
the  change  in  methods  appeared  to  be  so  great  as  to 
lead,  not  only  Keshub's  enemies,  but  even  some  of  his 
friends  to  suspect  there  was  change  in  purpose  and 
principle.  There  was  a  time  when  Keshub  was  un- 
favourable to  the  introduction  of  a  single  flower-garland 
into  the  place  of  public  worship.  He  had  cited  years 
ago  with  warm  approval  the  example  of  a  Bombay 
Bishop  who,  before  he  mounted  the  pulpit,  tore  a  floral 
cross  with  which  some  of  his  congregation  had  deco- 
rated a  part  of  the  church.  But  now  the  Minister  of 
the  Brahmo  Somaj,  entered  with  a  singular  enthusiasm 
into  an  endless  succession  of  symbols,  celebrations  and 
ceremonies.  In  fact  these  principally  composed  his 
new  methods.  He  said  the  times  had  changed,  and 
men  must  not  expect  him  to  do  and  say  as  he  had  done 
before  the  New  Dispensation  had  been  announced. 
Evidently  a  profound  inner  impulse  was  at  work   within 


CHRISTIAN  AND   HINDU   CEREMONIES   ADOPTED.     397 

him,  and  he  had  determined  to  follow  its  leading  in 
every  new  direction  which  it  pointed.  The  first  in- 
stance of  this  new  method  in  the  year  1881  was  the 
introduction  of  the  Christian  ceremonies  of  Baptism, 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  in  a  national  garb.  Keshub 
wrote  an  account  of  it  thus  : — 

On  Sunday,  the  6th  March,  the  ceremony  of  adapting  the  sacrament  to 
Hindu  life  was  performed,  with  due  solemnity,  in  accordance  with  the  prin- 
ciple above  set  forth.  The  Hindu  apostles  of  Christ  gathered  after  prayer 
in  the  dinner  hall,  and  sat  upon  the  floor  upon  bare  ground.  Upon  a  silver 
plate  was  Rice,  and  in  a  small  goblet  was  Water,  and  there  were  flowers 
and  leaves  around  both.  The  minister  read  the  following  verses  from  Luke 
xxii : — "  And  he  took  bread  and  gave  thanks,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  unto 
them,  saying,  This  is  my  body  which  is  given  for  you.  This  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me.  "  Likewise  also  the  cup  after  supper,  saying,  This  cup  is  the 
new  testament  in  my  blood  which  is  shed  for  you." 

A  prayer  was  then  offered,  asking  the  Lord  to  bless  the  sacramental  rice 
and  water  : — Touch  this  rice  and  this  water,  O  Holy  Spirit,  and  turn  their 
grossly  material  substance  into  sanctifying  spiritual  forces,  that  they  may  upon 
entering  our  system  be  assimilated  to  it  as  the  flesh  and  blood  of  all  the  saints 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Satisfy  the  hunger  and  thirst  of  our  souls  with  the  rich 
food  and  drink  thou  hast  placed  before  us.  Invigorate  us  with  Christ-force 
and  nourish  us  with  saintly  life.  The  Lord  blessed  the  rice,  and  He  blessed 
the  water.  And  these  were  then  served  in  small  quantities  to  those  around, 
and  men  ate  and  drank  reverently,  and  the  women  and  children  also  ate  and 
drank,  and  they  blessed  God,  the  God  of  prophets  and  saints. 

The  New  Baptismal  ceremony  was  held  in  the  following  June- 

The  devotees  formed  a  procession,  and  solemnly  moved  on,  singing 
a  hymn  with  the  accompaniment  of  the  mridanga,  the  conch-shell  and 
cymbals,  till  they  reached  the  bathing  ghaut  of  the  Kamal  Sarabar  the  tank 
attached  to  the  house  of  the  Minister.  The  place  had  been  decorated  with 
flowers  and  evergreens,  and  the  flag  of  the  New  Dispensation  was  waving  in 
the  breeze.  The  devotees  took  their  seats  upon  the  steps  of  the  ghaut ;  the 
minister  sat  upon  a  piece  of  tiger's  skin,  stretched  upon  a  wooden  Vedi 
erected  for  the  occasion.     Deep  silence  prevailed,     It  was   near  midday,    the 


398  LIFE    OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

torrid  sun  was  burning  overhead,  when  the  minister  addressed  his  people  as 
follows  : — Beloved  brethren,  we  have  come  into  the  land  of  the  Jews,  and  we 
are  seated  on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan.  Let  them  that  have  eyes  see.  Verily, 
verily,  here  was  the  Lord  Jesus  baptized  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 
Behold  the  holy  waters  wherein  was  the  Son  of  God  immersed.  See  ye 
here  the  blessed  Jesus,  and  by  his  side  John  the  Baptist,  administering  the 
rite  of  Baptism,  nay  behold  in  the  sky  above  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
All  three  are  here  present,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  spiritually  united. 
Pilgrim-brothers,  mark  their  union  to-day  on  this  hallowed  spot,  and  see  how 
the  water  shineth  in  celestial  radiance. 

He  then  explained  the  meaning  of  the  act  of  bap- 
tism by  immersion,  and  himself  with  his  associates, 
bathed  in  the  tank  near  which  all  this  took  place. 
These  two  ceremonies,  it  is  needless  to  point  out  were 
meant  to  incorporate  the  spirit  of  Christian  sacraments 
into  the  religion  of  the  New  Dispensation.  Christian 
divines  were  much  offended  at  the  liberty  taken  with 
their  solemn  observances,  but  could  not  at  the  same 
time  help  perceiving  that  this  was  the  right  way  of 
nationalizing  the  precepts  of  their  faith.  Keshub, 
however,  was  too  sagacious  to  permit  any  one-sidedness 
to  be  ascribed  to  his  new  Church,  and  the  Eucharist  had 
been  followed,  and  the  Baptism  preceded  by  the  Horn 
ceremony  which  is  essentially  a  Hindu  observance. 
The  Hindus  worship  Fire  as  God  on  such  occasions, 
but  he  worshipped  God  in  the  fire. 

On  Tuesday  last  the  Sanctuary  witnessed  a  new  and  imposing,  and  we  may 
add,  an  instructive  spectacle.  There  was  a  large  iron  fire-pan  in  front  of  the 
Vcdi  ;  in  an  earthen  vessel  was  ghee  or  clarified  butter  ;  bundles  of  slicks 
and  pieces  of  fire-wood  were  gathered  in  one  place,  and  there  was  a  large 
metallic  spoon.  Varieties  "I  beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers  and  evej 
■  ns  in  abundance    formed   a   semi-circl     skirting   (he   place   where   th< 


CEREMONY   OF  APOSTOLIC   ORDINATION.  399 

things  were  arranged.  No  one  was  prepared  for  such  a  sight,  as  none  even 
among  the  select  few  who  were  present  knew  what  was  going  to  happen. 
After  the  introductory  portion  of  the  Service  was  over,  the  minister  invoked 
Divine  blessing  on  the  Ceremony  which  was  to  be  performed,  and  prayed 
that  it  might  become  profitable  unto  the  Church.  He  then  lighted  up  the 
fuel  before  him,  and  pouring  over  it  clarified  butter,  produced  a  brisk  Fire, 
which  he  addressed  as  a  great  force.  "  Thou  art  not  God  :  we  do  not  adore 
thee.  But  in  thee  dwells  the  Lord,  the  Eternal  Inextinguishable  Flame,  the 
Light  of  the  universe." 

The  most  original,  undoubtedly  the  most  touching 
of  these  ceremonies  was  the  Ordination  of  the  Apostles 
of  the  New  Dispensation  on  the  15th  March  1881.  A 
week  afterwards  they  were  sent  out  on  their  tour  through 
the  country,  a  tour  from  which  Bhai  Aghore  Nath  Gupta, 
one  of  the  saintliest  among  Keshub's  disciples,  never 
returned.  The  persons  who  were  ordained  as  Apostles 
assembled.  Their  feet  were  washed  by  Bhai  Kanti 
Chandra  Mitra,  and  wiped  by  Bhai  Gour  Govind  Roy. 
Each  one  of  them  was  then  presented  with  a  silver 
medal,  bearing  the  inscription  of  Apostolic  Brother- 
hood on  one  side,  and  the  likeness  of  a  flag  on  the 
other.  Bhai  Gour  Govind  Roy  as  chief  priest  ad- 
ministered the  vow. 

He  presented  to  the  minister  a  Medal,  which  he  reverently  accepted  and 
wore  on  his  person.  Then  followed  the  presentation  of  a  stick  and  a  scrip, 
both  national  symbols  of  mendicancy.  Dressed  in  gairic,  with  head  shaved, 
the  Servant  of  the  Apostles  (Keshub)  humbly  received  these,  and  asked  for  alms. 
Thereupon  rice  and  vegetables  were  put  into  the  small  bag,  which  he  held  in 
his  hand  as  a  mendicant.  The  ceremony,  which  was  impressive,  and  moved 
many  to  tears,  was  the  beginning  of  thirty  days  of  mendicancy,  during  which 
the  Servant  of  the  Apostles  was  pledged  to  live  exclusively  upon  alms,  in  the 
shape   of    rice,    dal,    salt,  oil,  vegetables,  fruits,  &c,  with  which  kind  friends 


400  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

might  favour  him.  A  few  more  Medals  were  then  presented,  and  there  was 
the  laying  on  of  hands  in  each  case,  indicative  of  Apostolical  Succession.  The 
ceremony  concluded  with  a  charge  to  the  Apostles,  prayers,  and  benediction. 

We  call  this  ceremony  very  important  because  of  the 
place  which  Keshub  claims  for  himself  in  his  own 
apostolic  body.  After  the  forms  were  gone  through, 
Keshub  gave  the  following  charge  to  the  apostles  : — 

Honor  me  not  as  your  master.  I  am  your  servant,  I  am  your  friend.  You 
are  my  masters.  Therefore  what  treatment  a  servant  may  expect  from 
his  masters  and  a  friend  from  his  friends,  I  do  expect  from  you.  I  am  your 
God-sent  servant,  and  my  Father  hath  often  told  me  that  if  I  leave  your 
sendee  my  salvation  will  be  hindered.  Therefore  do  not  in  mercy  remove  me 
from  the  post  of  your  servant.  My  Heavenly  Master  hath  employed  me  in 
3'our  sen-ice,  therefore  I  must  be  lowly,  and  have  no  cause  to  be  puffed  up 
with  vanity.  I  do  not  send  you  as  the  great  prophet  Jesus  sent  his  disciples. 
Our  mutual  relations  are  of  a  different  kind.  I  am  only  one  of  your  band. 
You  are  sent  forth  by  the  world's  prophets  and  apostles.  You  and  I  are  sent 
forth  by  Jesus,  Sakya  Muni,  Chaitanya  and  other  great  prophets.  They 
have  sent  us  forth  into  the  world  to  preach  their  truths.  Taking  the  dust  of 
their  feet  I  tell  you  these  words.  You  are  not  my  apostles,  but  both  you  and 
I  are  their  apostles.  They  are  our  spiritual  fathers  and  grandfathers.  "We 
are  born  in  the  line  of  their  generation.  We  are  twice-born  in  their  inspi- 
ration. Before  I  acknowledged  you  as  apostles  those  heavenly  prophets  had 
ordained  and  sent  you  as  such.  I  only  repeat  their  words  to  their  disciples. 
In  this  very  room,  in  your  hearts  those  God-sent  prophets  are  present,  and 
they  call  you  to  your  work.  They  tell  you  to  take  into  heart  the  sufferings 
of  sinful  and  sorrowful  men.  Your  brothers  and  sisters  are  sinking  in  the 
sea  of  atheism  and  impiety.  How  can  you  be  at  ease  when  you  see  all  this  ? 
The  spirits  of  Jesus  and  Moses  and  Chaitanya  still  speak  to  you  with  warmth. 
You  must  not  remain  cold  when  you  hear  their  fiery  words.  Our  Supreme 
Mother,  the  Mother  of  all  Prophets  also  commands  you  thus  : — "  Apostles 
of  the  New  Dispensation,  go  and  save  my  children.  Lo  !  scepticism  and 
vice  are  destroying  them.  Run  to  their  rescue  with  all  your  might.  If  you 
have  any  love  for  your  Heavenly  Mother,  go  and  save  her  children." 
O  Apostles,  obey  the  Divine  call,  and  run  straight  to  your  work. 


SENDING   OUT   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  40 1 

Remember  your  creed, — one   God,   one   scripture   and  one  family  of  pro- 
phets.    Love  the  one  true  God,    and  worship   Him   every  day.     By  daily 
worship  make   your  lives  holy.     Attain  communion  with  the  saints  of  heaven 
inwardly  in  your  minds.     Eat  their  flesh  and  drink  their  blood,  and  turn  your 
bodies   into   vessels   of    holiness.     In   your   lives    show   the  reconciliation  of 
perfect   wisdom,    perfect  asceticism,    perfect   love,    perfect   devotion,    perfect 
conscience,    perfect    joy,    and   perfect  holiness.     Be   not    satisfied   with   the 
fraction   of    any   one   virtue.     Do   not   covet    the  prosperity  and  pleasures  of 
this   world.     Preserve   your  lives  with  the  food  that  comes  from  mendicancy. 
Be  happy  in  others'  happiness  and  sorry  in  others'  sorrow.     Regard  all   man- 
kind as  one  family.     Hate  not,  nor  regard  as  aliens,  men  of  other  castes  and 
other  religions.     Be  ascetics,  but  live  in  the  world  in  the  midst  of  other  men, 
and   let   them  live  in  you.     And  let  both  them  and  yourselves  live  conjointly 
in  God.     There  is  salvation  in  unity,  and  peace   in   unity.     Brother-apostles, 
seek  not  gold  or  silver.    Be  ye  mendicants.     Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow. 
He  that  thinketh  of  food  and  raiment  is  an   unbeliever.     God  is  your   all   in 
all.     Ye   shall   desire   nothing   except    the   feet   of  the   Lord.     Ye   shall  be 
guided   by   Him,   eating  the  bread  which  He  giveth,  and  not  the  tainted  food 
of  the  world,  which  deflleth  both  the  body  and  the  soul.     Sleep   on   the   bed 
that   the   Lord   provideth   for   you.     Go   in   all  directions,    East   and  West, 
North  and  South,    and   preach   the  New  Dispensation.     Let   no  regard  for 
men   cause   you   to  mix  with  the  Dispensation  what  does  not  belong  to  it.     If 
the  people  of  any  country  do  not  want  to  hear   you,    shake   off    the   dust   of 
your  feet,    and   go   elsewhere.     Be   not  angry,  be  not  vengeful.     If  any  men 
meet  you  as  enemies,  let  the  peace  of  your  prayers   descend   on   their  heads. 
Be   poor   and  patient  in  spirit.     Conquer  contention  with  peace.     Be  touched 
with   pity   when  you  see  the  pride  and  vanity  of  those  who  are  in  error.     Let 
peace  and  purity  flow  into  the  place  where  you  go.     If  you  go  into   a   village 
let    the   people  there  feel  that  a  new  light  hath  descended  upon  them.     Glory 
doth  not  lie  in  pride,  but  in  clean  conscience.     Never  in  your   mind   wish   for 
the   pleasures   of    life,    but   if  God   giveth   you  any  happiness  accept  it  with 
thankfulness  and  humility.     If  you  take   not   the   joys  and  pleasures   which 
He   giveth   and   bear   not    the   pain   which  cometh  from  Him,  ye  are  equally 
rebellious.     Never  dare  to  dictate   to    the   Lord.     Say  not    "  give  unto   me 
pain  "  or  "  give  unto  me  pleasure."     Whatever  happeneth  in  God's  kingdom 
doth  happen  by  His  will.     To-day  you  are  here,  to-morrow  there  ;  to-day  in 
honor,  to-morrow  in  dishonor.     But  be  not  afraid,  neither  be  unsteady.     For 

51 


402  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

what  God  causeth  to  take  place  is  for  your  good.  Do  not  press  men  to  give 
you  money  or  food.  The  Infinite  God  has  taken  charge  of  you.  Do  His 
work  with  hearts  full  of  faith.  He  that  worketh  not,  is  not  worthy  of 
reward.  Only  do  the  Lord's  work  and  seek  His  kingdom,  and  He  will  give 
you  what  is  necessary  both  here  and  in  heaven.  Let  your  faith  be  firm,  and 
shrink  not  if  men  wish  to  prove  it.  Do  nothing  that  may  lead  men  and 
women  in  future  to  fall  into  error  and  superstition.  If  by  the  example  of 
your  sin  and  slothfulness  others  are  led  to  live  sinfully,  you  will  have  to  answer 
for  it.  Whenever  you  see  vice  struggling  against  virtue  and  impurity 
tempting  chastity,  there  fight  like  true  heroes,  and  establish  the  victory  of 
virtue  and  chastity.  As  you  cut  open  the  snares  of  the  world  from  your  own 
souls,  so  cut  them  away  from  the  souls  of  others.  Apostles  of  the  New 
Dispensation,  what  you  have  hitherto  learnt  secretly  from  your  God,  go  and 
proclaim  now  with  the  sound  of  the  trumpet.  Manifest  new  love,  new  truth, 
new  inspiration,  and  draw  all  men  ami  women  into  the  fold  of  the  New 
Dispensation.  * 

These  ceremonies  were  accompanied  at  short  intervals 
by  vows  of  various  kinds,  and  Keshub  also  multiplied 
different  orders  of  devotees.  The  first  vow  taken  was 
the  vow  of  poverty  administered  as  we  have  already 
said  upon  Keshub  himself.  For  weeks  together  Keshub 
literally  lived  on  the  almsgiving  ot  his  congregation. 
He  had  many  times  had  it  in  his  mind  to  give  over 
charge  of  his  affairs  to  his  children,  and  spend  his  life  on 
the  benefactions  of  the  public.  He  commenced  so  early 
as  1875,  begging  from  door  to  door  among  the  families 
who  lived  in  the  Bharat  Asram,  and  with  the  rice  and 
vegetables  thus  collected,  cooked  his  own  food,  when  the 
Vairagya  movement  commenced.  But  he  did  not  make 
any  display  of  what  he  had  done.  He  did  not  want  to 
depend  upon  a  temporary  impulse  in  entering  upon  such 

*  These  and  the  following  extracts  are  made  from  the  Ntw  Dispensation 
Journal,  started  in  March  1881,  and  written  entirely  by  Keshub  at  the  time. 


VOWS   OF  POVERTY  AND   SELF-SURRENDER.       403 

a   life,   he  wanted  to  "  reduce  almsgiving  to  a  system." 
He  aimed  at  a  reconciliation  of  the  life  of  the  house- 
holder and  the  mendicant.    His  idea  was  to  find  out  and 
assign  some  source  of  income  to  the  family,   and   for 
his  personal  wants  to   depend   upon  the  almsgiving  of 
the  public.     He  made  at  different  times  various  plans 
for  this  purpose,   and  the  vow  of  poverty  now  taken 
was  an  important  one  amongst  them  all.     Gifts  of  rice, 
vegetables,   and   sweetmeats    were    made  in  abundance 
by  the  congregation,   some  kindly-disposed   Christian 
Missionaries  sent  boxes  of  biscuits,  and  an  appeal  for 
a  gift  of  the  Bible  was  also  readily  responded  to.    "  The 
Vow  of  Poverty  '    says  Keshub  "  seems  to  have  worked 
well,  considering  the  regular  and  ungrudging  supply  of 
alms  from  day  to  day,  and  the  very  generous  apprecia- 
tion it  evinces   on  the   part  of  the  donors.     Only  the 
superfluous    sweetmeats     occasionally   presented   have 
been  somewhat  costly/'    Keshub  himself  practised   the 
virtue  of  almsgiving  largely.     He  freely  gave  whenever 
men's   poverty   excited    his     charitable    feelings ;    and 
whenever  any  sums  were  placed  at  his  disposal  for  this 
purpose  he  chose  the  poor  of  every  community,    Chris- 
tians,  Hindus,  and  Mahamedans  alike.     He  distributed 
ice  in  very  hot  weather  to   the  Brahmo   missionaries, 
and  sweets,  pulses,  and  cool  water  to  wayfarers.     Some- 
times he  gave  away  amounts  of  money  which   he   could 
ill   spare ;  any   scene   of  suffering   moved   him  deeply. 
He  modestly  subscribed  to  every  charitable  object  which 
interested   him,    often     anonymously.      To   those   who 
knew  the  difficulties   of  his   circumstances    this  open- 


404  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

handed  charity  was  a  singular  feature  of  his  character. 
When  the  members  of  the  Salvation  Army,  (with 
whom  he  had  no  theological  sympathy),  not  long  before 
his  death,  were  being  cruelly  prosecuted  by  the  City 
authorities  for  preaching  in  the  public  squares,  he 
personally  attended  the  crowded  Police  Court,  with 
a  cheque  in  his  pocket,  to  pay  down  the  fine  if  any  was 
imposed.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  some  of  his  bitter 
opponents,  who  wanted  to  ruin  his  cause,  had  the 
effrontery  to  come  to  his  house  on  one  occasion  with 
their  subscription  book  to  solicit  his  aid  in  support 
of  the  Sadharan  Somaj.  Perhaps  they  came  to  try  his 
temper.  They  were  disappointed,  however,  when  he 
quietly  took  the  book,  and  subscribed  a  sum  of  money 
under  the  title  of  Satyameva  Jayte  a  Truth  triumphs  "  ! 
But  notwithstanding  all  the  partiality  he  had  for  men- 
dicancy, Keshub  never  countenanced  the  sin  of  idleness 
in  religious  men,  on  the  contrary  it  will  appear  shortly 
that  he  never  worked  so  hard  as  when  he  established 
the  vow  of  poverty. 

Another  important  vow  established  was  what  Keshub 
called  "  the  vow  of  self-surrender." 

Three  men  were  admitted  into  the  order.  They  are  men  of  the  world. 
They  attend  office,  and  by  secular  work  acquire  money.  They  are  not 
missionaries ;  they  do  not  discharge  priestly  functions.  Yet  they  wish 
to  act  upon  the  ascetic  principle  of  "self-surrender,"  and  would  give 
their  substance  to  the  Mother  Church.  They  would  labour  and  earn  money 
at  the  sweat  of  the  brow.  But  their  earnings  they  would  lay  at  the  feet  of 
the  Church,  with  the  fullest  resignation  as  becomes  her  children  and 
servant 

In  connection  with  this  urdur  hu    established    a    small 


VOWS   OF   SISTERHOOD    &C.  405 

"  Bidhan  Deposit  Bank"  for   the  devotees  to  bring  in 
their  monthly  earnings. 

They  deposit  the  money  as  soon  as  it  comes  into  their  hands.  After 
it  has  been  placed  in  the  Sanctuary  and  sanctified  by  the  Lord,  a  part  of  the 
money  is  given  back  to  each  depositor  with  instructions  for  its  disposal. 
Contributions  to  the  Church,  charity  to  the  poor,  allowance  to  mother  and 
wife,  liquidation  of  debt,  are  some  of  the  prescribed  items  of  expenditure. 
No  depositor  is  allowed  to  draw  more  than  has  been  credited  to  his  account. 
The  instructions  of  the  Church  must  be  strictly  followed.  Upon  these  con- 
ditions money  is  received  and  spent  by  the  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation 
for  the  benefit  of  its  flock.  Those  only  who  take  the  vow  of  self-surrender 
are  welcome. 

Nor  did  Keshub  confine  his  vows  and  orders  to  men. 
In  the  next  month,  that  is  April,  he  instituted  a  Sister- 
hood. 

The  Church  is  incomplete  till  it  has  formed  a  Sisterhood.  Numerous 
are  the  agencies  at  work  for  the  elevation  and  reformation  of  man.  But  the 
daughter  of  God  is  as  much  in  need  of  discipline  and  training  as  the  son  of 
God.  Our  Church  is  therefore  striving  after  female  edification.  Year  after 
year  our  sisters  have  been  subjected  to  higher  forms  of  discipline,  and  trained 
to  prefer  simplicity,  poverty  and  devotion  to  false  refinement,  and  the  gaieties 
and  frivolities  of  the  world.  They  have  not  made  much  progress  yet  ;  but 
they  are  slowly  growing  in  faith  and  prayer.  We  sincerely  and  fervently 
trust  the  more  advanced  among  them  may  grow  into  a  Ministering  Sisterhood 
and  not  only  set  examples  of  female  poverty  and  devotion,  but  formally 
assume  the  functions  of  female  servants  unto  their  less  devout  sisters.  The 
way  in  which  this  work  of  spiritual  discipline  has  gone  on  for  some  time 
past  is  not  uninteresting.  Vows  have  been  instituted,  embracing  varieties  of 
duty  and  discipline,  which  are  solemnly  adopted  in  the  Sanctuary,  and  kept 
up  for  a  certain  length  of  time.  These  Vows  enjoin  meditation,  abstemious- 
ness, study  of  character,  charity,  kindness  to  lower  animals,  nursing  of  child- 
ren, cleanliness  and  sanitation.  On  Tuesday  last  eleven  ladies  were  solemnly 
initiated  into  different  holy  orders.  The  Vows  of  the  first  order  we  give  be- 
low : — Chanting  of  108  Divine  Names,  and  Homage  to  Saints  and  Prophets. 
Morning     Readings  : — Rig    Veda     texts.     Mid-day     Readings  : — Bhagvat. 


406  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

Evening  Readings  : — Bible.  Giving  water  and  slierbet  to  devotees.  Cooking 
her  own  food.  Covering  the  head  with  a  piece  of  cloth  while  in  the  Temple. 
Solitary  meditation,  and  singing,  with  the  accompaniment  of  the  Ektara, 
songs  of  the  Xew  Dispensation,  and  other  hymns.  Short  family  prayer  with 
the  children.     Hearing  Life  of  Chaitanya. 

The  younger  girls  and  those  who  are  unmarried  had  suitable  Vows 
administered  to  them.  May  the  grace  of  the  Living  God,  the  Supreme 
Mother,  descend  on  our  sisters,  and  lift  them  from  the  bondage  of  the  world  ! 

The  next  vow  that  we  shall  record  here  is  one  meant 
for  boys  and  young  men.     Keshub  writes  thus  in  May. 

It  is  proposed  to  organize  an  Order  of  Students  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
for  the  benefit  chiefly  of  those  young  men  who,  either  at  home  or  in  schools, 
are  engaged  in  cultivating  the  intellect  and  acquiring  knowledge.  .  .  . 
The  order  was  lately  announced,  and  on  Sunday  last,  1 1  young  men  appeared 
in  the  Sanctuary  as  candidates  for  the  Preparatory  Vow,  which  was  instituted 
on  the  occasion.  In  the  course  of  the  service  the  Minister  explained  the 
advantages  of  the  Vow,  and  then  proceeded  to  administer  it  to  the 
candidates. 

Thus  at  this  time,  Keshub  concentrated  all  his  efforts 
to  make  the  idea  of  the  New  Dispensation  a  distinctive 
reality,  and  that  mainly  by  vows,  orders  and  cere- 
monies. His  characteristic  procedure  was,  whenever 
he  conceived  an  idea  to  work  it  out  to  its  extre- 
mest  limit  and  systematically  impress  it  upon  men's 
minds  by  repeating  it  in  endless  forms,  and  through 
every  possible  means  in  his  power.  In  all  the  reforms 
and  revivals,  in  all  the  doctrines,  disciplines,  he  had 
ever  introduced,  he  had  adopted  this  energy  of  ex- 
tremes. He  never  believed  in  the  reservation  of 
power.  And  now  he  applied  all  his  resources  to  the 
establishment   of  the   idea    of  the    New    Dispensation. 


ACTIVITIES  :   THE   SINGING  PARTIES.  407 

The  tremendous  amount  of  mental   and   physical   work 
through   which   he  went  from  day  to  day  since  the  an- 
nouncement in  January  1881,  was  a  matter  of  wonder 
to   us    all.      He    wrote    the    Nezv    Dispensation    paper 
single-handed,  and  borrowed  a  large  number  of  heavy 
books   on  primitive  Christian  theology   and  Hinduism 
which   he  read   most  industriously  to  produce  articles 
and   extracts.        The    daily   worship    in    the     domestic 
sanctuary  which  he   conducted  seldom  lasted  less  than 
two  hours.     He  conducted  the  weekly  worship   of  the 
Mandir.     The  whole  day  was   spent  in  various  kinds 
of  duties   requiring  the   most    constant    attention,    and 
the  Minister  and  disciples   often  sat  up   till  past  mid- 
night.    Over   and   above    all  this    work   he   organized 
singing  parties  which  paraded  the  streets   of  Calcutta 
for  three  or  four  hours  in  the  evening,  and  visited  every 
obscure  and  unclean  quarter  of  the  town.    The  labour  of 
this  undertaking  was  a  serious  exhaustion.     "  Ordinari- 
ly," says  the  Rev.  Bhai  Trylokya  Nath  in  his  Keshava 
Charita  "  he  had  not  the  power  to  walk  a  mile.     But 
when  out  in  the  singing  expeditions  he  stood  and  walked 
sometimes  for  three  hours  together  with  no  covering  for 
his  feet.     Keshub  as  a  mendicant  in  his  gairic  garments, 
walked  from  door  to  door  of  the  city,  and  diffused  among 
all  men  the  sweetness   of  God's  love.     In  the  heat  of 
Bysakh,  perspiring  in  every  pore,    crowds    surrounding 
him,   the  bad  smells  from  noxious   drains  choking  the 
breath,  he  never  seemed  to  feel  any  fatigue.     Generally 
one  or  two  drunkards  joined  the  party,  and  followed  it 
with    their  wild   pranks  without   being  able   to  cause 


408  LIFE   OF   KESIIUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

interruption.     Sometimes  the  citizens  adorned  him  and 
the  other  singers  with  garlands  of  flowers,   and  sprink- 
led them  with  rose-water. "     On  one  occasion  a  curious 
accident  happened  to  the  party.     They  had   entered   an 
oil-maker's  shop,  and  as  they  commenced  singing  with 
the    accompaniment  of   their    drums    and    cymbals,    a 
powerful    bullock   which   worked  the   oil-machine    got 
enraged,  and  breaking  from  its  stall  furiously  charged 
the  humble  minstrels.    The  danger  and  excitement  of  the 
situation  threw  them  into  very  undevout  disorder,   and 
in  the  general   stampede  that  followed  the  beast  could 
not  do  much   mischief.     The    oil-maker   and  his    ofood 
wife  with    many  apologies  brought  back  the  frightened 
apostles,  but  in  the  hymns,  which  they  were  subsequent- 
ly persuaded  to  sing,  they   had  to  give  up  the  use  of 
their    drum    and   brass    instruments.     Keshub    had    a 
constitutional  affection  for    mendicants    and    madmen, 
when   they   were  of  a  religious    cast.     Some  madmen 
were  his  regular  correspondents,  and  sent  weekly  des- 
patches which  he  now  and  then  read  aloud    with   great 
gusto  to  his  friends.    Some  invaded  his  house,  and  kept 
a  continued  hubbub  of  song  and   ejaculation.     One   or 
two  sane  men  were  converted  into  lunacy  after  hearing 
his  sermons,  and  open-air  addresses.     In  fact  the  mad- 
ness of  such  men  was  typical  to  his  mind  of  spiritual 
inebriation,  and  he  wrote  some  interesting  compositions 
under   the  pseudonym   of  Pagal  (Lunatic).     Mendicant 
singers  of  the  Vaishnava  order  were  the   delight   of  his 
heart.     On  Sunday  afternoons  they  besieged  his  study, 
and   sung  enthusiastically  in  loud  chorus  of  Pretn  and 


keshub' s  PERSONAL   APPEARANCE.  409 

Vairagya  (love  and  asceticism).  Sometimes  he  secretly 
visited  their  humble  settlements  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  sat  with  them  on  the  same  mat,  and  made  in- 
quiries about  their  mode  of  life.  Keshub  had  a  great 
wish  to  found  wandering  musical  parties  after  their 
model.  In  fact  every  form  of  religion  among  the  poorer 
and  lower  orders  of  the  people  had  his  deep  sympathy, 
and  he  aspired  to  make  the  New  Dispensation  essentially 
the  religion  of  the  poor.  Flags,  and  letter-heads,  plates 
and  cups,  and  domestic  utensils  of  all  kinds  were  in- 
scribed with  the  flags  and  mottos  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion ;  he  left  no  means  untried  to  impress  the  new  name 
upon  the  popular  mind. 

These  ceaseless  labours,  and  various  anxieties 
brought  on  an  attack  of  diabetes  in  the  beginning  of 
1882.  It  is  believed,  not  without  reason,  that  he  had 
the  disease  in  an  incipient  condition  before.  Keshub's 
personal  appearance,  however,  made  the  suspicion  of 
any  wasting  internal  disease,  impossible.  An  ac- 
complished American  actor,  quoted  before,  who  came 
out  to  this  country  some  years  ago,  said  "  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  certainly  was  the  handsomest  man  I 
saw  in  India.  He  was  my  beau  ideal  of  an  Othello 
'  make-up.'  With  a  grand,  imposing,  athletic  figure, 
a  noble  bearing,  he  combined  an  expressive  dig- 
nity which  reminded  one  of  the  Patrician  Roman." 
He  was  full  six  feet  high,  broad-shouldered,  deep-ches- 
ted, with  a  powerful  form,  latterly  growing  into  corpu- 
lency. He  had  a  commanding  forehead,  a  radiant 
face,  fine  complexion,  and  eyes  that  flashed    with    inner 

52 


410  LIFE    OF   KESHUB  CHUNDER   SEN. 

light.  From  youth  upwards,  being*  constitutionally 
short-sighted,  he  wore  gold-mounted  spectacles  which 
came  to  form  a  part  of  his  features,  and  lent 
refinement  to  his  noble  face.  Men  often  noticed  the 
peculiar  youthfulness  of  his  appearance,  and  even 
English  officials,  generally  reticent,  complimented 
him  on  his  habitual  cheerfulness.  Keshub  had  a 
strange  light  in  his  look.  Few  could  stand  the  glare 
of  his  ardent  gaze,  when  he  chose  to  look  any  one  fully 
in  the  face.  But  this  he  seldom  did.  He  habitually 
restricted  himself  within  the  innate  composure  of  his 
gracious  presence.  Only  when  delivering  his  rare  utter- 
ances before  vast  assemblies,  he  turned  upon  them 
the  full  lightning  of  his  kindled  eyes.  And  then,  as 
Emerson  would  say,  "  the  spirit  orbed  itself  in  his 
face,  and  his  face  was  as  eloquent  as  his  words.  Many 
connoisseurs  of  features  have  said  he  had  an  essentially 
German  countenance.  The  lips  were  thin  and  firm- 
set,  the  chin  prominent  in  its  powerful  curve,  the  jaws 
massive,  and  the  stiff  little  moustache,  neatly  matched 
in  size  the  upper  lip.  Keshub's  step  was  n-uijestic,  his 
whole  countenance  regal.  His  head  was  crowned  with 
bright  locks  of  luxuriant  hair,  combed  straight  down 
with  a  simple  grace,  and  then  parted  on  both  sides 
of  the  temple.  He  had  a  great  depth  and  power  of 
voice.  When  he  spoke  loud,  thousands  could  hear 
him  from  the  furthest  corners  of  vast  halls.  When 
he  spoke  in  his  lowest  quietest  tones,  as  in  the  Brahma 
Mandir,  he  was  equally  audible  ;  his  voice  fell  rest- 
fully  upon  the  congregation  like  some  hidden  spring  of 


PERSONAL   HABITS.  411 

water  in  the  mountains.  His  sentiments  and  voice 
were  like  some  celestial  poetry  set  to  fitting  music. 
We  like  to  remember  him  as  he  stood  addressing  his 
anniversary  sermon  to  a  mixed  audience  of  Hindus 
and  Europeans  in  the  Town  Hall  of  Calcutta.  His 
stalwart  form  erect,  towering  above  the  seated  as- 
sembly ;  his  refined  spiritual  countenance  calm  and 
intense.  His  long  massive  arm  raised,  his  great  figure 
swelling  with  suppressed  impulses.  His  eyes  in  full 
blaze,  his  lips  on  fire,  hurling  sentences  and  thoughts 
that  filled  his  audience  with  awe,  his  mighty  voice 
traversing  from  end  to  end  in  that  great  edifice.  He 
indeed  looked  like  a  prophet,  gifted  with  the  grace  of 
form  and  spirit  alike.  Who  shall  forget  the  pure 
sweet  dignity  of  his  presence  as  he  sat  on  the  pulpit 
of  the  Brahma  Mandir  in  his  simple  costume,  the 
numerous  congregation  above  and  around  still  like  a 
midnight  forest.  To  look  at  him  was  a  blessing,  to 
hear  his  voice  a  comfort  and  an  exaltation.  His  pre- 
sence called  to  mind  everything  that  was  true,  good,  or 
great.* 

His  habits  when  not  positively  austere,  were  exceed- 
ingly simple.  He  strongly  set  his  face  against  the 
growing  taste  for  wearing  European  costume,  and 
would  avoid,  without  making  any  fuss,  every  article 
that  had  any  symptom  of  fashionableness  about  it. 
Coarse    common-place    dhoties,    inelegant    up-country 

*  Great  was  our  wish  to  adorn  this  book  with  Keshub's  likeness  ;  but  of 
the  many  likenesses  taken,  there  is  not  one  we  like.  We  reserve  this  pleasure 
for  a  future  edition,  if  the  book  is  destined  to  have  any. 


412  LIFE  OF  KESHUB  GHUNDER  SEN. 

slippers  satisfied  him  ;  and  herbs,  pulses,  and  milk  were 
his  food.  Yet  to  avoid  singularity,  when  at  public 
meetings,  or  when  he  visited  Europeans,  he  used  other 
kinds  of  clothing.  He  gives  an  account  of  his  daily 
habits,  in  which  he  includes  the  other  apostles  : — 

Here  is  a  plain  narrative  of  what  our  apostolic  brethren  do.  Immediately 
upon  rising  from  the  bed  they  remember  the  Lord,  and  trustfully  cast  them- 
selves upon  His  care.  After  a  cursory  glance  over  the  morning  papers  they 
have  their  daily  bath  and  ablution  in  the  Kamal  Saravar,  or  in  pipe  water, 
during  which  sometimes  baptismal  ejaculations  are  uttered.  A  hasty  break- 
fast follows,  consisting  of  gram  and  fruits,  and  milk,  if  available.  The  doors 
of  the  Sanctuary,  which  has  been  just  cleaned  by  the  sisters  who  have  charge 
of  it,  are  opened,  and  the  bell  rings  announcing  the  time  of  worship.  The 
devotees,  who  live  mostly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Lily  Cottage,  hasten 
towards  the  Sanctuary  and  take  their  seats,  each  in  his  own  prescribed 
place,  and  upon  his  own  prescribed  carpet.  Every  day  the  minister  has  to 
conduct  sen-ice,  which  lasts  for  two  hours,  and  sometimes  for  three,  and  even 
four  hours.  This  is  the  chief  thing  in  the  day,  the  soul's  principal  meal, 
out  of  which  cometh  nourishment,  spiritual  pabulum  for  the  individual  and 
the  Church.  Service  closes  generally  between  n  and  12.  As  soon  as  it  is 
over,  our  friends  repair  to  the  cottage  in  the  south-western  corner  of  the  mi- 
nister's residence,  and  there  they  cook  their  own  food,  which  consists  chiefly 
of  rice  and  vegetables.  As  cooking  goes  on,  which  takes  generally  an  hour, 
the  Upadhaya  reads  select  passages  from  the  Srimadvagavat  and  other 
books,  or  conversation  is  carried  on  in  connection  with  some  one  or  other  of 
the  leading  topics  of  the  da)-.  A  dispersion  follows,  each  going  upon  his 
cctive  errand.  These  men  of  the  New  Dispensation  have  a  variety  of 
occupations,  such  as  writing  articles  for  the  journals  and  magazines  connec- 
ted with  the  movement,  collection  of  alms  and  promised  contributions  in 
aid  of  tlie  mission,  and  for  the  support  of  missionary  families,  collection  and 
administration  of  charitable  funds,  visitation  and  ministration,  lectures  and 
discourses  at  public  meetings,  supervision  of  printing  and  construction,  pur- 
chase of  provisions  and  oilier  needful  things,  cultivation  of  fellowship  with 
Hindu  and  Christian  brethren,  reading,  conferences,  &c,  besides  office  work, 
such  as  correspondence,  account,  sale  of  books  and  tracts.  In  the  evening 
some    are   engaged    in    solitary    devotional    exercises    with    the  cktara,  in  the 


OCCASIONAL   UNPOPULARITY.  413 

Sanctuary  or  elsewhere,  which  continue  for  an  hour  or  two.  The  friends 
meet  again  after  supper  in  the  Minister's  study.  Here  for  hours,  when  the 
neighbourhood  is  hushed  in  sleep,  conversation  embracing  a  variety  of  profit- 
able and  interesting  subjects,  is  carried  on,  terminating  sometimes  at  I  A.  M. 

Great  as  his  influence  was,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was 
at  times  intensely  unpopular,  and  never  so  much  as 
after  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage,  and  during  the  working 
out  of  the  New  Dispensation.  The  real  and  apparent 
irregularities  of  the  marriage  did  not  so  much  account 
for  this  as  some  of  his  natural  dispositions.  His  man- 
ners were  gentle  and  dignified  enough,  but  he  lacked 
in  the  social  quality  commonly  called  "gush."  His 
shyness  was  almost  morbid.  Before  strangers  and 
opponents,  before  critics  and  men  of  the  world  he  often 
sadly  failed  to  express  himself,  nay  grew  positively 
awkward.  This  curious  natural  disadvantage  contrast- 
ed with  his  great  position  and  talents,  was  never  con- 
strued aright,  and  always  mistaken  as  vanity,  conceit, 
and  coldness.  The  mistaken  opinion  now  and  then 
became  so  prevalent  that  he  was  obliged  to  explain  his 
real  nature  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  Jeevan  Ved 
often  quoted  before.  Before  his  own  intimate  friends  he 
would  sometimes  talk  like  a  child  out  of  the  fulness 
and  simplicity  of  his  soul.  And  thus  every  day  he 
talked  for  hours  absolutely  without  self-constraint,  or 
any  estimate  of  the  capacity  of  his  hearer.  Many  times 
in  the  day  he  would  effervesce  with  jokes  and  pleasantries 
of  all  sorts,  directed  among  other  objects,  to  the  original 
characters  who  surrounded  him.  He  would  repeatedly 
burst    into    the     loud     guffaws    of    the    most    genuine 


414  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEX. 

laughter,  hearing  which  some  people  in  England  once 
remarked  "  how  light-hearted  these  Hindus  are"!  At 
other  times  he  would  transport  the  little  company  in  his 
study  by  the  strange  power  of  his  sentiments,  expressed 
in  the  sublimity  of  language  that  hushed  all  criticism. 
But  before  strangers  and  opponents  he  was  not  only 
taciturn,  but  sometimes  most  ungainly.  He  was  not 
able  to  resent  an  affront.  He  had  not  the  power 
of  saying  a  word  in  self-defence  when  violently  assailed 
for  shortcomings  he  had  never  committed.  In  Eng- 
land he  was  confronted  by  a  large-limbed,  demonstra- 
tive Irishman,  belonging  to  the  Government  opium 
traffic,  the  defects  of  which  he  had  exposed  in  one 
of  his  lectures.  He  backed  out  of  the  difficulty  as 
best  as  he  could,  and  used  to  describe  the  encounter 
with  much  retrospective  horror.  Miss  —  a  young 
Englishwoman  who  came  out  to  this  country  as  a 
reformer,  had,  like  many  other  unmarried  female 
philanthropists,  a  temper  made  of  dynamite  and  gun- 
cotton.  One  evening  when  Keshub  had  gone  to  pay 
her  an  obeisance,  she  treated  him  to  a  piece  of  high- 
seasoned  eloquence  which  made  him  dumb  with  fright 
and  shame.  Another  young  lady  who  was  employed  in 
his  household,  was  a  daily  terror  to  him.  He  positively 
fled  at  her  approach,  but  she  made  raids  into  his  study, 
and  into  his  retreats,  and  inflicted  upon  him  language 
which  other  men  would  not  have  tolerated  for  an 
instant.  A  host  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
annually  crowded  to  Calcutta,  and  repaired  to  Lily 
Cottage    to   pay   their  respects   to    the   groat  Indian  re- 


CAUSES   OF  UNPOPULARITY.  415 

former,  and  take  observations  of  him.  Though  every- 
one had  the  most  unrestricted  access  to  him,  yet 
he  felt  often  the  impulse  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat  at 
the  announcement  of  complimentary  visitors.  He 
could  not  always  escape,  however,  and  sat  out  the 
long  interviews  in  a  half-simpering,  stolid,  uncomfort- 
able mood.  If  hi^  interlocutor  was  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence and  culture,  not  lavish  in,  or  expectant  of 
personal  compliments,  if  he  was  productive  of  large 
general  ideas,  Keshub  might  be  drawn  out  into  com- 
municativeness. Thus  treated  he  would  soon  warm  up 
into  geniality,  and  enrapture  his  auditor  with  the 
wonderful  flow  of  his  talk.  But  very  few  in  this 
country  possessed  the  art  of  drawing  him  out.  The 
present  writer  has  been  a  witness  of  many  interviews 
with  eminent  men  from  foreign  parts.  Though  these 
visitors  came  pre-occupied  with  his  great  fame,  yet  the 
actual  conversations  held  were  not  calculated  to  im- 
press them  most  favourably.  Some  set  him  down  as 
positively  mediocre,  some  as  mystical  and  unsettled, 
and  a  large  number,  among  whom  might  be  included 
his  own  countrymen,  decided  that  he  was  preternatur- 
ally  conceited.  Only  one  or  two  went  away  with 
adequate  impressions  of  his  genius  and  talent.  Even 
to  his  friends  and  relatives  he  was  at  times  exceedingly 
enigmatical.  To  sudden  and  unexpected  outpourings 
of  confidence  he  would  reply  with  freezing  mono- 
syllables. To  not  a  few  he  was  simply  grim  and  stern, 
especially  if  there  was  any  moral  delinquency  in  the 
case.     To   some   he   was   most   studiously   ambiguous, 


}l6  LIFE   OF   KESHUR   CHUNDER    SEN. 

cold,  polite,  distant,  particularly  if  he  suspected  any 
intention  to  purloin  his  confidence.  And  to  none  was 
he  vocally  demonstrative,  or  gushingly  amiable.  Many 
of  them  reiterated  the  venerable  Devendra's  com- 
plaint : — "  I  have  laid  myself  bare  before  him,  but 
cannot  get  at  his  mind/'  All  this  does  not  make  a 
man  popular.  Then  again  Keshub  .Chunder  Sen  was 
a  bad  correspondent.  To  most  letter-writers  he  was 
absolutely  unfathomable.  His  correspondents,  unless 
there  were  exceptional  reasons,  had  to  content  them- 
selves with  miserly  half-sheets,  which  he  seldom  filled 
from  top  to  bottom.  In  his  earlier  years,  wre  remember, 
he  used  to  correspond  more  liberally,  but  as  he  gained 
in  years,  experience,  and  thought,  he  scrupulously 
economized  his  epistolary  powers.  One  sometimes 
came  across  eminent  men  who  complained  of  this. 
Among  others,  Francis  William  Newman,  the  English 
Theist,  sometimes  alluded  with  much  disfavor  to 
Keshub's  "divinely  absorbed  habits."  One  noticeable 
feature  of  his  occasional  correspodence  was  the  time 
and  deliberation  he  spent  on  his  letters.  Writing  a 
letter  or  an  article,  he  composed  wrord  after  word  at 
great  intervals  of  deep  thought,  and  now  and  then  tore 
up  in  despair  what  he  had  so  tardily  produced.  He 
seemed  like  one  intensely  conscious  of  responsibility 
in  every  thing  that  came  from  his  pen,  and  this  partly 
accounted  for  the  paucity  of  the  result.  Keshub  now  and 
then  apologized  for  his  imperfection  in  this  respect, 
but  no  doubt  it  made  him  unpopular  in  certain  quar- 
ters.    It  has  been  often    said  that   a   timely   word    from 


SELF-RELIANCE  AND  RESERVE.  417 

him  could  set  right  many  misunderstandings,  and  check 
evil  reports.  But  he  obstinately  refused  to  say  that 
word.  He  had  great  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  truth  and  justice,  and  scorned  to  say  anything 
in  vindication  of  his  own  character.  Another  cause 
of  his  unpopularity  was  the  obstinate  determination 
with  which  he  refused  to  take  any  man's  counsel. 
He  acknowledged  and  recognized  no  earthly  master, 
though  he  professed  to  learn  from  everybody.  No 
one  could  persuade  him  to  take  a  course  of  action, 
and  no  one  could  persuade  him  to  give  it  up,  when  he 
had  chosen  to  take  it.  He  never  made  it  a  secret  that 
he  walked  by  a  light  vouchsafed  to  him  from  above. 
He  seldom  cared  to  ask  any  man's  advice,  or  obey  it 
when  offered  unasked.  Sometimes  he  would  perhaps 
consult  the  merest  outsider  in  a  matter  of  worldly  duty, 
but  his  intimate  friends  rarely  enjoyed  that  honour. 
And  hence  in  some  important  undertakings  which  he 
commenced,  he  had  at  first  the  nominal,  and  not  the  real 
adherence  of  his  followers.  This,  however,  pained  him 
much.  For  though  Keshub  was  chary  of  communicating 
confidence,  he  valued  the  previlege  of  receiving  it.  He 
felt  he  had  an  absolute  right  to  the  innermost  heart  of  his 
friends,  and  as  to  his  own  heart  and  motives,  though  he 
knew  he  was  not  communicative,  and  he  had  his 
reasons  for  it,  he  claimed  the  most  implicit  trust.  This 
he  often  complained  he  did  not  get.  The  result  of  it 
was  that  he  began  and  carried  out  some  of  his  greatest 
projects  without  letting  any  one  know  beforehand,  and 
without  courting  any  assistance  from  anybody.  The 
53 


41 8  LIFE   OF   KFSHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

more  serious  the  undertaking  was,  the  less  his  friends 
knew  anything  about  it  beforehand.  But  to  their  credit 
be  it  said  that  whether  they  comprehended  him  or  not, 
as  soon  as  they  found  out  what  he  wished,  they  readily 
advanced  to  help  him,  though  that  help,  in  the  ignor- 
ance of  motives,  was  frequently  wide  of  the  mark. 
He  always  accepted  the  help,  and  became  somewhat 
more  communicative  afterwards.  Many  openly  called 
this  obstinacy,  some  set  it  down  as  egotism,  and  very 
few  liked  it  in  their  hearts.  He  had  his  own  estimate  of 
the  value  of  such  criticisms,  and  was  inexorable  in  his 
principle.  If  help  came,  he  would  take  it,  nay  he 
secretly  expected  it,  and  demanded  it,  but  he  would  not 
openly  court  it,  nor  divulge  his  plans  to  anybody,  until 
circumstances  brought  them  to  the  notice  of  the 
public.  Another  cause  of  Keshub's  unpopularity  was 
his  rigorous  stoicism,  his  apostolical  piety  in  an  age 
of  self-indulgence  and  scepticism.  He  and  his  followers 
studiously  kept  aloof  from  the  rage  of  fashions,  looseness 
of  manners,  and  wreck  of  convictions  characteristic  of  his 
times.  His  rigid  ideals  undoubtedly  moulded  the  rising 
race,  but  they  also  undoubtedly  made  him  unpopular. 

Keshub  seldom  took  much  outward  notice  of  the 
personal  wants  and  discomforts  of  his  friends  the 
Brahmo  Missionaries,  who  depended  upon  him  with 
their  families  to  a  very  large  extent.  The  constitution 
of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India  was  such  that  the 
sorrows  and  needs  of  these  missionaries  were  never 
fully  relieved  by  the  public,  and  a  great  deal  hung 
upon    the   personal   supervision    and  sympathy   of  the 


APPARENT   INDIFFERENCE   TO   SUFFERING.  419 

leader.  How  true  and  deep  that  sympathy  was  every 
devoted  worker  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  must  testify. 
Yet  Keshub's  exterior  often  belied  that  fact.  He  was 
never  known  to  watch  a  sick-bed.  He  rarely  made 
any  direct  inquiries  into  the  private  circumstances,  and 
individual  inconveniences  of  his  intimate  disciples,  yet 
he  kept  his  eyes  and  ears  so  open  that  he  knew  every- 
thing. Everybody  carried  reports  to  him  unasked,  and 
he  elicited  information  by  various  indirect  means.  He 
rarely  visited  the  houses  of  those  who  were  the  most 
constant  attendants  at  his  own  house.  He  had  an 
inveterate  dislike  to  make  the  least  parade  of  his 
affections  and  good-wishes,  particularly  in  regard  to  his 
dearest  friends.  Men,  for  these  reasons,  often  accused 
him  of  hard-heartedness,  and  his  followers  of  servility. 
But  the  latter  were  so  profoundly  convinced  of  his 
unuttered  affection,  that  outward  show  ceased  to  be 
important  to  them.  And  his  own  principles  in  this 
matter  were  entirely  unaffected  by  ill-natured  criticism. 
External  civilities  and  attentions  were  in  his  eyes  in- 
considerable virtues  for  which  a  great  many  men 
among  his  assistants,  had  special  aptitude.  For  in- 
stance, some  among  them  had  rare  gits  in  the  ministry 
of  sick-beds,  others  in  attending  to  the  daily  wants 
of  the  apostolic  workers  and  their  families,  others  again 
in  polite  attentions  and  personal  courtesy.  He  solemn- 
ly assigned  to  them  such  duties.  He  felt  it  was  his 
office  to  educate  these  men  in  their  respective  duties, 
and  distribute  each  form  of  the  needed  ministrations 
to   workers   especially    called    and    appointed    for   the 


420  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

purpose.     He  discovered  and  formulated  the  principles 
of  these  different  departments  of  charitable  work,  and  left 
it  to  his  colleagues  to  work  out  the  details.     He  wanted 
to  be  looked  upon  as  the  main  channel  through  which 
these    beneficent    efforts    flowed,    while    his    practical 
energies  were  devoted  to  the  general  work  of  direction, 
guidance,  and  spiritual  advancement.    Not  that  he  never 
meant  to  pay  personal  attention  to  his  disciples,  some- 
times he  charmed  them  by  his  private  friendship,  but 
he  wanted  them  to  repose  more  exalted  expectations   in 
him,   and  look  for  minor   services  from  those  who  had 
taken  up  that  kind  of  work.     Keshub's  inward  attach- 
ment  and  intense  concern  for  his  little  community  were 
sometimes  unexpectedly  evidenced  when  a  calamity  or 
death  took  place  in  the  neighbourhood.     For  instance, 
when  Brother  Aghore  Nath   died   in   December    1881, 
his    grief    on   the   occasion   was   so    spontaneous   and 
uncontrollable,  that  there  could  be  little  doubt,  next  to 
the   bereaved   widow  and   orphans,    he   was   the   most 
deeply  affected.     Nevertheless  it  must  be  admitted  that 
his  outward  indifference  to  suffering  contributed  a  large 
element    of    his    unpopularity.     The   public,    however, 
should  take  note  of  the  fact  that  this  charge  of  indiffer- 
ence was   not  only  brought  by  some  of  his  friends,  but 
now  and  then  by    members  of  his  own   family.     When 
Mrs.  Sen,  or  the  children  fell  ill,  Keshub  was  not  unlre- 
quently  found  fault  with,  because  he  personally  paid  but 
little  attention  to  their   ailments.     The   fact  is,   that  in 
this,  as  in  other  cases,  he  expected  those  in  charge  of  the 
families,  to  look  to  all    physical  requirements,  while  he 


THE   "MAGISTERIAL       SPIRIT.  42 1 

ministered  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  community.  But 
somehow  or  other,  Keshub  cultivated  the  peculiarity  of 
a  seeming  inattention  to  the  wants  of  those  who 
depended  upon  him,  and  the  public  accused  him  of  court- 
ing affection,  but  offering  none.  Uncommon  men  are 
least  common  in  the  way  they  dispose  of  their  affections, 
and  it  will  never  do  to  judge  them  by  the  conventional 
rules  of  courtesy  and  propriety.  Keshub,  it  may  be 
freely  conceded,  had  his  singularities,  and  his  angulari- 
ties also.  But  none  who  has  studied  him  could  feel  a 
moment's  hesitation  to  declare  that  to  know  him  was  to 
trust  him,  as  you  could  trust  no  other  man.  The 
recipient  of  the  most  conflicting  confidences  and  jarring 
secrets,  of  a  dreadful  nature  sometimes,  he  was  faithful 
to  everybody  who  loved  him,  and  had  therefore  to  be  re- 
served and  careful,  where  others,  whose  relations  were 
less  manifold,  could  afford  to  be  open.  It  sometimes 
happened,  however,  that  those  who  complained  loudly  of 
his  coldness,  were  the  most  forward  to  give  him  their 
unquestioning  faith  at  critical  times.  The  innate 
friendliness  of  his  nature,  we  will  soon  have  occasion  to 
illustrate  as  we  proceed. 

The  reader  who  has  studied  his  injunctions  to  the 
various  orders  of  devotees,  and  to  the  apostles  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  could  not  fail  to  notice  the  "  magis- 
terial '  tone  in  which  they  are  delivered.  He  became 
more  and  more  authoritative  towards  his  latter  years, 
and  he  openly  said  that  the  authority  belonged  not  to 
the  lower,  but  the  higher  self  in  him.  The  man  who 
never  expressed  a  direct  wish  in  regard  to  his  most  inti- 


42  2  LIFE   Oh    KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

mate  friend,  now  became  a  legislator,  and  the  laws  he 
gave  he  meant  to  make  perfectly  binding.  He  meets 
the  charge  thus  : — 

"Father  O'Neill  accuses  the  men  of  the  New  Dispensation  of  being 
'magisterial.'  "We  plead  guilty  to  the  charge.  But  if  we  are  asked  why 
wc  are  magisterial,  we  reply,  we  cannot  help  it.  There  is  something  in  every 
member  of  the  New  Church,  even  in  the  humblest,  which  must  speak  and 
dictate  like  a  magistrate,  like  one  having  authority.  This  inward  something 
is  above  ourselves.  It  is  not  self;  it  cannot  be  man.  It  is  divine.  It  is 
more  than  a  magistrate,  more  than  any  earthly  potentate.  It  is  the  very 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  speaking  in,  and  through  man." 

This  magisterial  authority,  it  will  be  observed,  Keshub 
claims  not  only  for  himself,  but  on  behalf  of  "  every 
member  of  the  New  Church,  even  the  humblest."  But 
practically  it  applied  to  him  alone,  and  hence  it  was 
another  cause  of  his  later  unpopularity.  Men  tried  to 
apply  strictly  and  literally  to  himself  the  rules  he  applied 
to  others.  And  as  in  the  case  of  a  spiritual  man  like 
him,  a  too  literal  application  of  outward  rules  could  not 
be  justly  made,  he  was  accused,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Cuch  Behar  marriage,  of  an  inconsistent  violation  of 
his  own  ordinances.  Much  unpleasant  feeling  was  the 
consequence.  It  was  disadvantageous  in  another  way. 
Keshub's  followers,  ever  on  the  alert  to  imitate  him, 
readily  imbibed  the  "  magisterial  spirit  : '  and,  as  they 
all  claimed  the  same  extent  of  piety,  they  bitterly 
accused  each  other  of  the  violation  of  apostolical  rules. 
The  greater  the  number  of  detailed  injunctions  the 
greater  the  mutual  criticism.  The  disagreements  among 
his  apostolical   colleagues   alluded   to  before,  gradually 


EFFECTS   OF  AUTHORITY,  423 

took  a  most  fatal  form  in  this  manner.  Keshub  demand- 
ed an  immunity  from  such  rules  of  criticism  in  his  own 
case,  because  he  declared  that  in  every  duty  of  life  he 
was  guided  by  the  direct  commandment  of  God.  Besides 
it  was  a  favourite  saying  of  his,  that  the  legislator  might 
claim  exemption  from  the  outward  authority  of  his  own 
laws,  especially,  as  he1  maintained,  that  at  no  time 
had  he  departed  from  the  spirit  of  the  ordinances. 
This  was  his  contention  in  the  marriage  controversy, 
and  also  afterwards.  He  readily  conceded  to  the  other 
Brahmo  missionaries  the  privilege  of  receiving  inspi- 
ration when  they  sought  it,  but  he  held  that  they  did 
not  on  all  occasions  seek  it,  or  walk  by  the  light  of 
Heaven.  Not  being  spiritually-minded  enough  for  this, 
they  should,  he  thought,  be  guided  by  rules,  and 
injunctions,  sanctioned  by  him,  under  Divine  guid- 
ance, in  the  name  of  the  community.*  This  was  the 
principle  of  church  government  he  meant  to  work 
out  since  the  announcement  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

*  Keshub  very  distinctly  laid  down  he  had  an  official  position,  as  the 
Minister  of  the  Church,  and  he  had  a  private  position  apart  from  his  minis- 
terial duties.  In  the  latter  capacity  he  was  like  other  Brahmos,  and  the 
community  was  fully  justified  not  to  sanction  everything  he  did.  But  as 
their  Minister,  appointed  by  the  hand  of  Providence,  the  Avhole  congregation 
and  community  were  to  accept  his  authority,  and  follow  his  precepts.  He 
specified  the  subjects  on  which  he  was  to  be  implicitly  followed.  The  pro- 
gress and  success  of  the  present  Dispensation  ;  realization  of  the  Spirit 
God  and  immortal  life  ;  honor  to  the  saints  and  prophets  of  the  world  ; 
prayer ;  Yoga  or  communion  ;  the  reconciliation  of  primitive  asceticism  and 
modern  civilization  ;  the  reconciliation  of  philosophy  and  faith.  These  were 
at  first  the  subjects  on  which  he  demanded  to  be  obeyed  by  the  community. 
But  the  range  of  subjects  gradually  widened,    till  thev  embraced   almost 


424  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

But  this  new  principle   of  church  government  did  not 
promise  to  work  well.     In  the  first  place  the  apostles, 

every  duty  of  life.     It    was  not    possible,   he    said,   that   everybody    should 
understand  his  teachings,  but  when  they  failed  to  understand  him,  they  were 
still  to  follow,  not  in  blindness,   but   in  the  loving  submission   of  faith.     It 
must   be  confessed,    however,   that   even  his   most  faithful  followers  did  not 
know  how  to  apply  his  teachings  to  their  lives.     That  in  his  precepts  as  Minis- 
ter he  wras  entitled  to  faith  and  obedience,   it  was   not  possible   to  question. 
But  how  to  distinguish  his  public  and  private  life  ?     Had  Keshub  any  private 
life  ?     He  distinctly  says  that  his  eating,    sleeping,    and   his   every  daily  act 
were  regulated   by  the   commandment    of  God.     Not  only  so,   but  he  laid 
down  "  Magisterial  rules,"  from  the  impulses  of  the   "higher   self"  regula- 
ting the  personal,  domestic,   social,   and  religious  life  of  the  devotees  of  his 
Church.     The  New  Samhita,   and  the  rules  of  apostolic  life,  promulgated  on 
the  commencement  of  the  Bengali  New  year  in  April  1883,    are  undoubtedly 
of  this  description.     Can  it  then  for  a  moment  be  imagined  that  he  laid  down 
these  rules  for  others, without  himself  meaning  to  obey  them  ?  He  without  doubt 
wanted  to  make  his  household  a  model  household,  and  every  relation  of  life,  as 
discharged  by  himself,  an  example  for  others  to  follow.     Where   then   is   the 
distinction  between   his  private  and   the  public  functions  ?     His  faithful  dis- 
ciples felt  they  should  follow  him  absolutely,  in  eveiy  capacity  of  his  life,    in 
every  detail  of  his  conduct.     But  then  arose  the  difficulty,  Was  this  possible  ? 
His  circumstances   were  so    different,  his   duties  so   peculiar,   his  nature   so 
exalted,   that  it  was  most   dangerous  for  every  man  to  do  as  he  did.     Hence 
many  bewilderments   ensued.     Each  one   could  but    imitate  him   according 
to  his  own  standpoint,  his  own  idiosyncracy  ;  and  though  each  imitation  was 
faithful  as  far  as  it  went,  the  several  imitations  did  not  go  far  enough  to  make 
a  homogeneity.     The  reflections  were  all  broken,   and  disunited.     The  dis- 
ciples therefore  quarrelled  very  much  among  themselves  in  their  estimates  of 
the  master,  and  there   were  strong   mutual  accusations   about  unfaithfulness 
to   the   standards  of  life   laid  down   by  him.     Each  one  claimed  he  was  the 
most  faithful,  and  the  others  were  not.     He  who  followed    the   general    idea-- 
and  principles  preached   by    the   Minister,  and  did  not  in  private  life  closely 
imitate  his  personal  ways,   was  criticised  severely,    as  one   seeking  his   own 
convenience,    not  whole-hearted  in  his  disciplcship.     And  he  who  tried  to  do 
as  Keshub  did  in  every  detail  of  conduct,  was  criticised   as  one  who   missed 


EFFECTS   OF  AUTHORITY.  425 

whose  unanimous  consent  alone  was  authoritative,*  could 
seldom  agree  on  any  important  subject,  their  personal 
attitudes  towards  each  other  being  very  undesirable. 
Whatever  therefore  was  done  towards  controlling  the 
body  was  attempted  to  be  done  by  himself,  and  his 
authority.  In  the  next  place  Keshub  was  conscious  that 
any  rule  he  wanted  to  apply  to  refractory  members,  some 
of  them  secretly  applied  to  him,  and  if  he  claimed  to  be 
free  from  the  rules  of  criticism  because  he  walked  by  the 
light  of  the  Spirit,  they  raised  exactly  the  same  plea.  So 

the  spirit  in  following  the  letter.  Keshub  marked  these  perplexities,  but 
could  not  remove  them.  He  only  emphasized  his  own  self-estimate.  In 
1875,  when  in  his  Town  Hall  lecture  he  announced  the  New  Dispen- 
sation, he  said  "  If  you  believe  in  God,  believe  that  He  has  not  commissioned 
me  to  be  an  infallible  guide  unto  you.... The  very  creed  my  mouth,  as 
preached  to-day,  disowns  me,  and  points  to  God  alone  as  the  source  of  all 
truth.  If  you  exalt  me  as  a  teacher,  and  then  falling  down  before  me  accept 
every  utterance  of  mine  as  a  divine  message,  you  do  so  at  the  risk  of  debasing 
yourselves,  and  jeopardising  your  highest  interests ....  All  that  I  contend 
for  is  this,  that  whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  my  teachings  should  be 
accepted  and  followed,  not  for  my  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  truth  itself." 
In  1 88 1  when  sending  out  the  Apostles  of  the  New  Dispensation,  in  his 
solemn  charge,  he  thus  said  : — "  Do  you  not  know  that  I  am  a  vile  sinner  ': 
What  I  say  on  this  point  is  true,  believe  me.  You  are  not  my  disciples,  you 
are  my  friends,  my  valued  coadjutors.  Do  not  imitate  me.  Imitation  is 
death,  it  is  blind  obedience,  it  is  slavery ....  May  my  Father  be  your  teacher 
and  guide.  Let  no  one  regard  me  as  his  guru.  My  entreaty  is  let  no  one 
learn  anything  for  my  sake,  or  for  the  sake  of  my  intellect.  Whatever  I  say. 
whether  it  be  true  or  not,  ascertain  it  by  appealing  to  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Accept  or  reject  it  according  to  His  direction."  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
thus  made  an  esoteric  reconciliation  of  the  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness, 
with  an  overpowering  sense  of  his  own  authority.  This  golden  truth  of 
reconciled  self-estimates  he  could  not,  however,  impart  to  his  community. 
They  either  thought  too  much,  or  too  little  of  his  authority. 

*  See  p.  311. 

54 


426  LIFE    OF   KESHUR   CHUNDER    SEN. 

his  own  authority,  high  as  it  was,  was  not  equally  final 
with  every  one  of  his  followers.    Perhaps  the  Hindu  mind 
eminently  requires  being  guided  by  detailed   rules  and 
injunctions  in  every  important  duty,  but  this  method  of 
government  was   altogether   new  to  the  traditions  and 
history  of  the   Brahmo    Somaj,    and    during    Keshub's 
administration    its    success    was    exceedingly   doubtful. 
Also   the   essential   privilege  of  individual   inspiration 
which  he  had  claimed  on  behalf  of  every  member  of  his 
Church  was  fatal  to  the  interests  of  any  personal  con- 
trol.    Whenever    any    rule    or    discipline    was    found 
unpleasant,    or   irksome,    the    plea    of  inspiration    was 
raised  to  set  it  aside.     Evidently  it  was  either  too  early 
or  too  late   to    introduce  this   principle  of  authority  in- 
to the   details   of  life,    and    Keshub    at   times    became 
exceedingly  despondent    and  indignant.     All  doubt  in 
regard  to   himself,  all  doubt  in  regard  to  the  laws  he 
gave,    was   regarded   by   him    as   gross  infidelity.     He 
wrote  thus  to  one  of  his  friends  : — "  What  have   you 
been  thinking  ?  When   I    reflect  on  your  present  condi- 
tion I  am   exceedingly  pained  and  alarmed.     What  I 
have  seen  in  Calcutta  is  a  dreadful  state  of  affairs,  I  can 
never  be   quiet  when    I  think  of  it,  or  remember  it.     If 
so    much   unbelief    has    entered    into    our    community, 
what   will   be   the    end  r  O  God,  what  will  be  the  end  ? 
This  thing  built  by  my  hands,   this  thing  of  my   heart, 
this  little  body  of  men,  will  it  be  broken  to  pieces  ?  Will 
the   friends   and    brethren    of    my    soul    desert  me,  and 
each    of  them  run   away  ?  May  God  do  what  is  best ! 
If  you    judge  vie  to  be   selfish,   covetous,  worldly,  un- 


EFFECTS   OF  AUTHORITY.  427 

devout,  that  will  do  me  no  harm,  but   my  heart  is  sore 
to    think   what   will   become   of    those  who  pass  such 
judgments.     For  the  sake  of  love  I  have   borne   many 
abuses,   and  I  am  destined  to  bear  many  more.     Have 
those    who    are    most   intimate    spared   me  ?  Look   at 
Bejai.*     What   has  become  of  him  !  If  to  disbelieve  in 
me  is  to  reject  the  Dispensation  of  God,  it  troubles  me 
to  think  what  will  become  of  men.     If  by  disowning 
me,  and  overpassing  me  any  one  can  be  saved,   I  have 
nothing  to  object  to  that,   but   is  that  possible  ?  I  fear 
infidelity   very   much.     It   is   more   dreadful    than   the 
most  dreadful   sins.      Govern  each  other  firmly,   have 
faith,    and   the   kingdom  of  heaven  will  come  nearer." 
The  result  of  all  this  mutual  disagreement  was  a   three- 
fold  mischief.     The  missionaries  in  spite  of  their  high 
character  became  every  day  more  and  more  uncontrol- 
lable ;  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  threatened  to  produce 
unheard  of  monstrosities  of  conduct ;    and  the  practical 
work  under  the  Brahmo  Somaj  every  day  declined,  and 
was  at  last  very  nearly  paralysed.     The  further  Keshub 
felt  his  alienation  from  Brahmos  in  general,   the  more 
compact   he   tried  to   make   the    small    apostolic  body 
immediately  around  him,  and  consequently  the  greater 
was  his   dread   to  discover  its  elements  more    and  more 
irreconcilable.      What  unspeakable  pain   and   despon- 
dency this  caused  during  his  last  days  we  do  not  wish  to 
pourtray.     But  the  unfortunate  subject  must  repeatedly 
come   up   before    the    narrative    of    his    life    is    quite 

*  Bejai  Krishna   Goshwami  left  Keshub  to  join  the  Sadharan  Somaj  after 
the  Cuch  Behar  marriage. 


428  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

finished.  In  the  short  history  of  the  New  Dispensation 
during  Keshub's  lifetime,  this  was  its  most  serious  blot, 
and  after  his  departure,  this  has  arrested  its  advance- 
ment. The  government  of  the  church  is  a  problem 
which  Keshub  never  solved,  and  it  is  farther  from 
solution  now  than  before. 

No  description  of  the  character  of  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  will  be  complete  without  some  allusion  to  the 
really  wonderful  power  he  had  of  forming  friendly 
attachments  to  every  description  of  people.  The 
strangest  thing  is  that  he  was  repeatedly  accused 
of  coldness  and  hard-courtedness !  We  have  already 
spoken  of  the  magnetism  in  him  which  from  early 
age  drew  kindred  elements,  and  always  formed  a 
circle  with  himself  as  its  centre.  The  Brahmo  mis- 
sionaries, the  "  apostolic  brotherhood '  of  the  New 
Dispensation  was  that  chosen  circle.  What  we  now 
want  to  say  is,  that  he  found  kindred  elements  in  every 
community,  race,  and  caste.  It  is  true  harsh  things 
were  often  said  against  him,  and  at  times  he  was  ex- 
ceedingly unpopular.  There  was  an  undercurrent  of 
jealousy  always  at  work  to  damage  his  influence 
in  the  country.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  Hindus, 
Mahomedans,  and  Europeans  had  a  strange  liking  for 
him,  and  deeply  felt  that  he  loved  them.  His  friends, 
his  kinsmen,  his  acqmiintances,  though  they  at  times 
could  not  account  for  his  attitude  towards  them,  and 
were  inclined  to  complain,  nevertheless  found  in 
him,  every  time  they  approached  him,  a  fascination 
they   could   not  shake  off.     Complete  outsiders,  leading 


INNATE   LOVEABLENESS   OF   NATURE.  429 

Hindu  and  Mahomedan  gentlemen,  discovered  in  him  a 
fondness  and  attachment  for  them,  which  produced  not 
only  a  surprise,  but  a  warm  response.  Hindus  like 
Maharajah  Kamal  Krishna  Dev,  or  Maharajah  Jotendra 
Mohan  Tagore  found  him,  and  regarded  him  as  a 
genuine  friend.  Mahomodans  like  Nawab  Abdul  Lateef 
admired  him  almost  as  a  faithful  Mahamedan,  and 
Roman  Catholic  as  well  as  Evangelical  Christians  put 
off  their  sectarian  prejudices  to  honour  his  spiritual  as 
well  as  practical  Catholicism.  His  religious  eclecticism 
not  only  took  the  practical  form  of  personal  love  to 
men  of  all  persuasions,  but  what  is  more,  secured  their 
personal  love  also.  Hence  at  his  death  they  all 
mourned  alike,  they  all  missed  him  alike,  and  bore  the 
same  testimony  to  his  worth.  But  among  men  who 
immediately  surrounded  Keshub,  his  loving  nature 
produced  its  deepest  effects.  Reserved  and  taciturn  as 
he  often  was,  the  very  rareness  of  the  manifestation 
of  his  feelings  had  a  flavour  which  frequency  would 
have  undoubtedly  marred.  When  his  expressed  sym- 
pathy came,  it  came  like  a  heavenly  visitation,  which 
none  who  received  it  dared  to  undervalue.  How  often  did 
it  happen  that  the  missionaries,  after  the  ruthless 
controversies  they  had  with  each  other,  came  to  him 
tired,  bleeding  at  heart,  hungering  for  consolation, 
and  he  by  a  word,  or  a  look,  or  a  smile,  or  a  sweet 
beautiful  prayer  at  the  domestic  sanctuary,  ministered 
unto  wounds  and  sorrows  which  nothing  else  could 
cure.  Never  courting  affection,  sympathy,  or  aid  on  his 
own  account,  yet  agonized  at  times   by  the  treatment 


430  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDEK    SEN. 

he  received  at  home  and  abroad,  when  he  at  rare  inter- 
vals, poured  forth  his  sufferings  in  those  marvellous 
devotions  of  his  before  the  throne  of  God,  how  all  who 
heard  him,  even  his  opponents,  were  converted  in  a 
moment,  and  counted  it  an  honor  to  be  of  any  service 
to  him.  The  servants  adored  him,  and  looked  upon 
him  as  a  demigod,  they  never  heard  an  angry  or  cruel 
word  from  him.  He  conquered  them  more  by  his 
gentleness,  than  others  do  by  violence.  The  children, 
flocks  of  whom  from  the  neighbourhood  gathered  at 
Lily  Cottage,  were  delighted  at  the  least  notice  from 
him.  At  anniversary  festivals  he  transported  them  by 
his  exquisite  humour,  pleasant  anecdotes,  original  in- 
ventions of  demons  to  be  burned  and  battered,  fire- 
works to  be  let  off,  and  no  end  of  oranges  and  sweet- 
meats. But  it  was  the  women  who  wanted  to  have  the 
most  frequent  access  to  him.  Scrupulously  careful  about 
too  freely  mixing  with  the  other  sex,  he  often  con- 
trived to  meet  them  half  way  through  his  wife,  but  they 
broke  all  barriers,  and  made  personal  appeals  to  him. 
These  were  mostly  the  wives  and  relatives  of  Brahmo 
missionaries.  Their  domestic  wants  were  many  ;  the 
resources  of  the  Mission  Office  were  scanty  ;  the  differ- 
ences and  the  disorders  of  Mangal  Para  (the  missionary 
neighbourhood)  were  chronic ;  and  the  ladies  would 
trust  no  one  with  their  complaints  but  the  Minister 
himself.  Between  Lily  Cottage  and  the  missionary 
abodes,  there  was  private  communication  through  a 
trap  door,  which  only  at  stated  hours  of  the  day  was 
opened.     But  whenever  it  was  unbarred,  the   women  of 


ATTITUDE   TOWARDS  WOMEN  AND   CHILDREN.      43 1 

the  neighbourhood  poured  in,  their  babies  on  their 
arms,  their  children  of  various  ages  and  dimensions 
following  them.  If  it  was  prayer  time,  they  found  their* 
way  to  the  prayer-hall ;  if  it  was  meal  time,  or  any 
other  time  when  Keshub  could  be  caught,  they  be- 
seiged  him,  and  plied  him  with  their  demands,  difficul- 
ties, and  petitions,  to  all  of  which  he  listened  with  the 
utmost  complaisance.  They  called  him  Karta  (Doer) 
or  Master.  The  English  word  Governor  is  the  nearest 
approach  to  it.  As  soon  as  the  Karta  had  listened  to 
their  troubles,  they  imagined  relief  could  not  be  far  off. 
The  complaints  and  appeals,  wThich  were  often  of  the 
most  conflicting  and  personal  description,  were  dealt 
with  by  him  in  a  most  delicate  and  sympathetic 
manner.  Though  he  could  not  always  administer  the 
relief  sought,  he  fully  persuaded  all  the  applicants,  that 
they  had  his  profound  sympathy  and  affection.  He 
had  a  special  love  for  each  individual,  adapted  both  to 
the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  party,  and  whether 
it  was  a  man  or  a  woman,  they  could  not  but  feel  that 
his  friendship  for  them  was  singular,  unlike  his  friend- 
ship for  any  other  person. — In  his  absence  all  this  sym- 
pathetic friendship  is  blotted  out.  The  criticisms  are 
there,  perhaps  sharper  than  before  ;  the  rules  for  con- 
trol and  repression  are  there,  the  difficulties  and 
sorrows  are  there,  much  worse  than  before — every  one  of 
the  missionaries  is  an  irresponsible  master  in  his  own 
sphere  ; — but  the  gathering,  binding,  sweetening,  warm- 
ing force  of  Keshub's  love  is  hidden  for  ever,  and  has 
left  a  strange  blank  on  the  face  of  everything ! 


432  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

Keshub  had  a  singular  sagacity  in  making  out  the 
motives  and  secrets  of  men.  The  lawyers  found  he  was 
as  good  a  lawyer,  as  themselves  if  not  better  ;  men 
of  the  world  sought  his  advice  on  worldly  affairs  ;  and 
every  one  who  entered  into  a  quarrel  with  him,  thought 
twice  before  he  did  so.  He  had  foiled  and  defeated 
many  astute  men  with  their  own  weapons.  He  says 
in  the  eighth  chapter  of  Jeevan  Ved  "By  God's  grace 
in  the  very  dawn  of  my  life  I  understood  men  to  be  very 
unsubstantial."  He  was  exceedingly  suspicious  in  form- 
ing his  estimate  of  men.  The  present  writer  well  re- 
members having  heard  him  say  more  than  once,  "  I  hold 
men's  motives  to  be  unworthy,  until  they  have  proved 
them  to  be  otherwise."  He  had  a  faith  in  the  origin 
and  constitution  of  human  nature  in  the  abstract,  but 
he  had  a  deep  distrust  of  men  in  detail.  He  was 
keenly  observant  of  good  qualities,  and  when  he  was 
convinced  of  a  man's  honesty  and  worth,  trusted  him 
ever  afterwards.  But  he  was  equally  observant  of  bad 
qualities,  and  his  observations  generally  corroborated 
his  instinctive  estimates.  He  saw  the  good  and  bad 
in  all  men,  he  forecast  their  individual  conduct  in  pro- 
bable emergencies,  and  his  confidence  even  in  his  most 
intimate  friends,  therefore,  was  not  entire.  This  may 
somewhat  account  for  the  reserve  and  reticence  which 
had  become  habitual  to  him.  The  great  capacity  for 
affection  he  possessed,  and  his  natural  discrimination 
of  virtue-balanced  in  his  own  case  these  unfavorable 
estimates.  But  a  man  cannot  be  always  and  absolutely 
silent  about    everybody     and    everything.     Hence    his 


GREAT  KNOWLEDGE  OF  MEN.  433 

private  opinions  about  his  friends  and  associates  perco- 
lated amongst  those  concerned,  creating  a  great 
deal  of  mutual  suspicion  and  disesteem.  The  good 
qualities  he  now  and  then  pointed  out  had  not 
much  influence,  because  his  disciples  did  not  possess 
the  balance  of  compensating  love  so  natural  with  him, 
but  the  bad  qualities  (which  latterly  he  frequently  dis- 
cussed), were  productive  of  virulent  criticism  and  mu- 
tual depreciation  among  the  Brahmo  missionaries. 
Even  amidst  his  apparent  success  this  threatened  his 
cause  with  impending  ruin.  The  curious  thing  about 
the  whole  matter  was  that  the  individual  who  poured 
his  critical  confidences  into  his  ears  imagined  he  had 
the  monopoly  of  the  leaders  approbation,  and  the 
persons  traduced  were  lowered  for  ever.  But  Keshub 
privately  knew  the  depth  and  draught  of  water  in  each 
of  his  confidants,  and  calmly  kept  his  own  counsel. 
He  hoped  this  rigorous  mutual  criticism  would  cure  the 
evils  against  which  it  was  directed,  and  in  this  hope  he 
did  not  discourage  the  critics.  But  he  could  not 
help  feeling  constant  misgivings  of  an  utter  disruption 
of  his  apostolical  body  through  personal  ill-feeling 
and  rancour,  especially  when  he  was  conscious  that 
not  a  little  of  it  was  directed  against  himself.  He 
knew  there  were  serious  defects  in  his  apostolical 
colleagues  ;  his  natural  gentleness,  and  his  principle  of 
personal  non-interference  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  cure  these  defects  in  the  way  other  leaders  would 
have  done  ;  so  he  left  the  delinquents  to  execute  judg- 
ment on   each  other,  giving  only  such  general  guidance 

55 


434  LIFE   0F  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

through  prayer,*  suggestion,  and  remote  direction  as  he 
could.  This  policy,  however,  instead  of  serving  the 
desired  end,  kindled  a  fiercer  flame  of  ill-feeling  which 
he  tried  in  vain  to  quench.  The  occasional  strong 
criticisms  he  himself  made,  in  the  absence  unfortunately 
of  the  persons  criticised,  served  as  authority  and  argu- 
ment for  the  internal  warfare  of  his  missionaries.  His 
method  of  criticism  had  a  threefold  disadvantage.  It 
was  construed  into  unintended  confidence  by  the  per- 
sons who  heard  it,  it  never  expressed  his  whole  mind 
about  the  subject  of  the  criticism,  and  it  never  expressed 
his  estimate  of  those  who  made  such  wrong  use  of  his 
unfavourable  comments.  He  prescribed  various  humi- 
liating methods  to  teach  forgiveness  and  mutual  good- 
feeling,  these  perhaps  produced  some  temporary  effect, 
but  never  could  repair  the  mischief. 

When  Keshub's  estimates  of  his  friends  and  associates 
were  so  sternly  just,  how  could  they  be  more  indulgent 
towards  his  opponents  ?  His  opponents  may  be  divided 
in  two  great  classes,  those  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and 
those  outside.  Amongst  the  latter  a  large  number  of 
Christian  missionaries  were  most  formidable ;  there 
were  a  few,  though  very  few,  orthodox  Hindus  also ; 
but  the  largest  class  of  his  opponents  came  from  the 
educated  infidels  who  hated  every  form  of  moral  and 
religious  earnestness.  He  frequently  admonished  the 
Christian  missionaries  to  be  more  charitable  and 
thoughtful  in  their  judgments,  taking  a  generous  and 
high  tone  on  the  subject.     He  was  sure  of  being  able 

*  See  p.  313. 


ATTITUDE   TOWARDS   ADVERSARIES.  435 

to  convert  his  Hindu  opponents  as  his  movement  grew. 
To  clever,  polished,  irreverent  infidels  he  was  indiffer- 
ent, or  mildly  scornful,  now  and  then  somewhat  indig- 
nant, because  he  judged  them  to  be  the  worst  enemies  of 
the  land  and  the  people.  But  the  criticisms  which  these 
different  classes  made,  whatever  might  be  their  intrinsic 
value,  he  made  it  a  point  to  reproduce  in  his  newspaper 
organs,  never  hesitating  to  give  full  publicity  to  the 
most  venomous  calumnies.  He  treated  these  remote 
opponents  with  fair  respect,  though  he  was  convinced 
their  opposition  was  mistaken.  But  to  his  adver- 
saries in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  by  far  the  most  em- 
bittered of  any  he  had  to  deal  with,  his  attitude  was 
very  different.  He  was  personally  acquainted  with 
each  one  of  them,  and  brought  his  fierce  knowledge 
of  human  nature  to  bear  upon  their  motives  and  con- 
duct. He  very  seldom  expressed  any  positive  anger ; 
but  his  intense  consciousness  that  in  attacking  him, 
they  were  working  at  the  downfall  of  the  purposes  of 
Providence,  produced  a  secret  repulsion  and  wrath  al- 
most unbounded.  Perhaps  the  only  exception  he  made 
in  this  respect  was  in  favour  of  Devendra  Nath  Tagore, 
for  whom  his  love  and  respect  remained  unimpaired  till 
the  last.  He  went  to  work  to  counteract  the  plans  of 
his  adversaries  with  a  silent  persistency  which  never 
flagged  and  never  failed.  All  the  intense  hatred  he 
felt  against  falsehood  and  against  iniquity  inspired  his 
efforts.  He  had  no  toleration  of  any  kind  for  the 
motives  of  such  opponents,  and  the  sentiments  and 
courses   of   action   he   adopted  against  them,  were  not 


436  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

calculated  to  disarm  their  opposition.  In  the  first  place, 
by  his  great  sagacity  he  anticipated  and  outwitted  them 
in  their  own  game.  In  the  next  place,  he  exposed  now 
and  then  their  actual  (not  imaginary)  sins  with  a 
vividness  and  realism  most  galling,  most  fatal.  He 
never  descended  into  personalities  ;  he  dealt  in  general 
statements,  but  the  generalities  were  so  specialized  and 
unmistakable  that  the  shafts  went  straight  home,  and 
rankled  in  the  hearts  they  were  meant  for.  In  the  third 
place,  he  took  an  attitude  of  silent  scorn  and  studious 
contempt  even  more  offensive  than  the  scathing  language 
of  the  direct  condemnation.  He  never  named  any  one  if 
he  could  help  it ;  even  indirectly  he  alluded  to  any  person 
as  seldom  as  possible  ;  he  never  read  the  newspapers  of 
his  Brahmo  adversaries  ;  never  noticed,  far  less  answered 
their  criticisms.  He  ignored  them  at  once  and  altogether. 
Another  means  he  generally  took  was  to  suggest  to  his 
enthusiastic  followers,  always  more  impetuous  and 
demonstrative  than  himself,  to  take  particular  lines 
of  attack,  which  they  did  with  a  heartiness  of  sincerity 
most  direct  and  aggressive.  And  then  in  the  last 
place  he  had  constitutionally  a  reckless,  and  almost 
ferocious  defiance  of  the  opinions  of  his  adversaries, 
which  led  him  deliberately  to  persevere  in  courses  of 
conduct  they  most  condemned.  The  more  they  criti- 
cized and  vilified,  the  more  obstrusively  he  did  the 
things  which  angered  them,  till  the  very  persistency 
silenced  further  comment.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  give 
some  instances  of  these  different  kinds  of  tactics. 
When  towards  the  end  of  1865  the    authorities    of  the 


TACTICS   OF   WAR.  437 

Adi  Brahmo  Somaj  at  Jorasanko  wanted  to  turn  out 
Keshub  and  his  companions  on  various  charges,  a 
sharp  conflict  arose  as  to  whom  the  Indian  Mirror 
belonged,  then  a  fortnightly  newspaper,  representing 
the  views  of  the  Somaj.  Babu  Devendra  Nath  and 
his  party  claimed  it  as  their  possession  on  account  of 
the  money-contributions  made  by  him,  and  Keshub 
claimed  that  morally  it  was  his,  by  reason  of  his  active 
share  in  starting  the  paper,  and  of  the  editorial  respon- 
sibilities which  for  some  years  he  had  taken  entirely 
upon  himself.  The  paper  was  printed  at  the  Somaj 
Press,  and  Babu  Devendra  Nath  refused  to  allow 
Keshub  to  have  any  access  to  the  printing  establish- 
ment, or  to  the  literary  work  of  the  newspaper,  making 
it  in  the  meanwhile  over  to  another  young  man.  His 
party  thought  they  had  sufficiently  snubbed  Keshub. 
The  paper  was  a  fortnightly,  and  they  were  sure  they 
could  get  out  the  next  number  at  their  leisure.  But 
what  was  their  astonishment  to  find  that  before  a  week 
was  over,  Keshub  had  already  got  an  extraordinary 
number  of  the  Indian  Mirror  published  by  an  indepen- 
dent press,  with  a  scathing  article  on  the  high-handed- 
ness which  had  attempted  to  shut  him  out  !  The  Adi 
Somaj  people  gave  up  the  conflict  in  despair,  but  never 
forgave  Keshub  for  their  defeat.  After  the  Cuch  Behar 
marriage,  the  seceders  got  up  a  stormy  meeting, 
and  then  conceived  the  bold  design  of  taking  forcible 
possession  of  the  Church  premises  to  manage  them 
according  to  their  own  ideas.  All  arrangements  to 
this  effect  were  made,  and  they  were  sure  of  being  able 


43 8  LIFE  OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

to  execute  their  plan  in  triumph.  But  they  had  counted 
without  their  host,  Keshub  got  every  information  of 
their  designs,  and  when  the  storming  party  approached 
the  Mandir  building  the  next  morning,  they  found  it  in 
the  possession  of  a  strong  detachment  of  Keshub's 
followers,  who  soon  called  the  police  to  their  help,  and 
dispersed  their  adversaries.  Some  of  the  language  he 
had  used  against  the  leading  members  of  the  Sadharan 
Somaj  stuck  in  their  throats  like  fish-bones,  and  it  is 
to  be  apprehended  they  have  not  got  over  the  irrita- 
tion even  now.  Not  in  anger,  but  in  cold  delibera- 
tion, he  called  them  "secularists,"  "infidels,"  "sensu- 
alists," "prayerless,"  "vicious,"  "worldly  chaff  whom 
the  winnowing  fan  of  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage  blew 
away."  He  had  little  patience  with  men  who  were 
tolerant  to  them.  He  had  no  faith  in  the  mission  of  the 
Sadharan  Somaj,  except  as  a  destructive  agency,  or  in 
the  future  of  that  body.  During  one  of  the  anniversaries, 
however,  when  a  numerous  procession  followed  him,  he 
caused  the  whole  assembly  to  stop  in  front  of  the 
Sadharan  Somaj  building,  while  he  prostrated  himself 
on  the  ground,  in  honour,  we  suppose,  of  the  God  whom 
his  adversaries  worshipped  there.  The  latter  took  the 
act  in  anything  but  a  complimentary  sense,  and  made  a 
fresh  grievance  of  it.  On  one  occasion  he  advised  some 
of  his  disciples  to  go  and  invade  the  house  of  a  prin- 
cipal Sadharan  Somaj  opponent,  who  had  ridiculed  in 
a  public  lecture  some  of  the  principles  of  the  New  Dis- 
pensation.    He  described  the  incident  thus  : — 

Our  brethren  were  much  concerned  to  hear  that  one  of  the  deluded  rene- 


TACTICS   OF  WAR.  439 

gades  of  the  Church  had  set  himself  up  as  a  reviler  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
and  had  the  audacity  to  give  public  addresses  before  young  men, [caricaturing 
the  true  believers  and  even  their  God.  Such  a  man  must  not  go  unpunished, 
for  his  wanton  blasphemy  and  irreverent  scofhngs  might,  if  unchecked,  do 
some  mischief  among  the  unguarded.  For  the  protection  of  the  weak,  as 
well  as  the  restoration  of  the  unfortunate  brother,  who  really  knows  not  what 
he  is  doing,  some  attempt  seems  to  be  needed  to  put  down  the  propagation 
of  such  anti -dispensation  drollery.  For  two  or  three  days  he  was  made  the 
subject  of  earnest  prayer  in  the  Sanctuary,  and  at  last  moved  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  a  company  of  enthusiastic  devotees  went  to  the  house  of  the  misguided 
brother,  and  sang  the  Divine  name  with  great  force,  like  so  many  poor 
mendicants  invoking  God's  blessing  upon  him,  and  avenging  his  infidel 
attacks  with  prayer  and  hymn.  The  same  thing  was  done  the  next  day,  and 
was  again  repeated.  We  do  not  know  what  effect  this  has  produced  upon 
our  weak-minded  brother.  But  we  trust  it  will  do  its  work  in  time  under 
the  sanctifying  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  new  mode  of  chastising 
apostacy  with  love,  persecution  with  prayer,  and  scoffing  with  solemn  hymns, 
cannot  but  be  productive  of  the  most  salutary  results,  and  will  no  doubt 
magnify  the  New  Dispensation. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  how  much  love,  forgive- 
ness, or  solemnity  there  might  be  in  these  retributive 
visitations,  but  surely  they  were  "  not  productive  of  the 
most  salutary  results,"  nor  of  much  "  sanctifying  grace," 
because  the  persons  so  visited,  took  the  ministrations 
to  be  insults  added  to  injury,  and  were  all  the  more 
hardened  by  them,  becoming  more  vituperative  after- 
wards than  they  had  ever  been  before.  Keshub,  how- 
ever, fully  believed  he  was  only  doing  his  duty  to  them. 
In  every  quarrel  he  had  with  anybody,  he  absolutely 
believed  God  was  on  his  side,  his  enemies  were  absolutely 
wrong.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  reasons  for  this 
belief,  we  have  only  to  state  it  as  we  found  it.  Nor  is 
it  our  purpose  to  describe  the  attempts  which  his  enemies 


440  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

made  to  ruin  his  private  and  public  character,  men  who 
were  not  only  his  friends  at  one  time,  but  his  devoted 
disciples.  The  newspapers  of  the  time  must  be  read 
to  gauge  the  intensity  of  ill-feeling.  But  the  work 
of  a  faithful  recorder  could  not  be  conscientiously  dis- 
charged if  we  did  not  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  how 
Keshub  felt  and  acted  under  the  trials  and  provoca- 
tions heaped  upon  him.  He  was  sincerely  convinced 
that  the  men  who  were  against  him,  were  against  Provi- 
dence, against  the  laws  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and 
he  denounced  them  accordingly.  He  multiplied  the 
proceedings  which  offended  them  most,  he  had  their 
criticisms  occasionally  contradicted  by  the  youngest  and 
least  important  members  of  his  community,  he  showed 
he  had  very  little  regard  for  their  opposition.  But  if 
any  one  showed  the  least  sign  of  contrition  he  was 
most  ready  to  forgive.  His  quarrel  was  with  their 
public  procedures,  and  not  their  private  personalities. 
He  frequently  prayed  for  them,  set  apart  a  day  during 
the  anniversary  month  to  invoke  blessings  upon  them. 
He  spoke  of  them  thus  in  the  New  Dispensation 
paper — 

To  all  our  enemies,  in  India  and  in  England, 

To  all  our  enemies,   Hindu,   Christian,    Buddhist,  Mahamedan,  Parsi  and 

sceptical, 
To  all  our  enemies  among  the  rich  and  the  poor,  among  the  educated  and 

and  the  uneducated  classes, 
To  all  who  are  our  antagonists  in  faith  and  doctrine, 
To  all  who  are  jealous  of  our  prosperity, 
To  all  who  have   slandered    our   character,    publicly  or  privately,  or  have 

otherwise  tried  to  injure  our  best  interests, 


LOYALTY  TO   SOVEREIGN.  44 1 

To  all  who  hate  us  and  abhor  us  for  some  reason  or  other, 
We  send  our  fraternal  love  and  good  wishes.  May  you  prosper  in  health 
and  happiness,  and  may  those  who  are  near  and  dear  to  you  prosper  !  May 
the  Merciful  Father  vouchsafe  unto  you  His  blessing,  and  promote  your 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  !  Permit  us  to  sit  at  your  feet,  and  learn  humi- 
lity and  forgiveness. 

One  singular  article  of  the  short  creed  of  the  New 
Dispensation  as  laid  down  by  the  Minister  was  "  Loyal- 
ty to  Sovereign."  This  political  declaration  was 
foreign  to  every  phase  of  antecedent  Brahmoism,  and 
took  aback  many  people.  But  by  some  inner  processes 
Keshub  had  felt  convinced  for  a  long  time  that  loyalty 
to  Government  must  be  an  essential  principle  of  the 
new  religion.  He  enjoined  this  principle  as  the  doc- 
trine of  God  in  History  taught  by  him  all  along  from 
1866.  He  said  in  his  lecture  on  "  Behold  the  Light  of 
Heaven  in  India  "  in  1875,  that  "  ever  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  British  power  into  India  there  has  been  going 
on  a  constant  upheaval  and  development  of  the  native 
mind  under  an  over-ruling  Providence."  Then  in  a 
later  lecture  after  the  Imperial  Assemblage  at  Delhi 
in  1876,  he  spoke  thus  : — 

Do  you  believe  that  there  is  God  in  history  ?  Do  you  not  recognize  the 
finger  of  special  Providence  in  the  progress  of  nations  ?  Assuredly  the  record 
of  British  rule  in  India  is  not  a  chapter  of  profane  history,  but  of  ecclesias- 
tical history.  The  book  which  treats  of  the  moral,  social,  and  religious 
advancement  of  our  great  country  with  the  help  of  Western  science,  under 
the  paternal  rule  of  the  British  nation,  is  indeed  a  sacred  book.  There  we 
see  clearly  it  is  Providence  that  rules  India  through  England 

Educated  countrymen,  you  are  bound  to  be  loyal  to  your  Divinely-appointed 
sovereign.  Not  to  be  loyal  argues  base  ingratitude  and  absence  of  faith  in 
Providence.  You  are  bound  to  be  loyal  to  the  British  Government,  that 
came  to  your  rescue,  as  God's  ambassador,  when   your   country  was   sunk   in 

56 


442  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

ignorance  and  superstition  and  hopeless  jejuneness,  and  had  since  lifted  you 
to  your  present  high  position.  As  His  chosen  instruments,  then  honour 
your  sovereign  and  the  entire  ruling  body  with  fervent  loyalty.  The  more 
loyal  we  are,  the  more  we  shall  advance  with  the  aid  of  our  rulers  in  the  path 
of  moral,  social,  and  political  reformation.  Here  they  have  met  together, 
under  an  overruling  Providence,  to  serve  most  important  purposes  in  the 
divine  economy.  The  mutual  intercourse  of  England  and  India,  political 
as  well  as  social,  is  destined  to  promote  the  true  interests  and  lasting  glory 
of  both  nations.  We  are  rejoiced  to  see  the  Rajahs  and  Maharajahs  of 
India  offering  their  united  homage  to  Empress  Victoria  and  her  represen- 
tative, at  the  Imperial  assemblage.  Far  greater  will  be  our  rejoicing  when 
all  the  chiefs  and  people  of  India  shall  be  united  with  the  English  nation  in 
a  vast  International  Assemblage,  before  the  throne  of  the  King  of  Kings,  and 
the  Lo.-d  of  Lords. 

This  conviction  in  the  course  of  popular  teaching  came 
out  in  the  shape  of  an  Apostolical  Proclamation  in  the  end 
of  1879  which  made  Keshub's  friends  both  in  England 
and  India  very  angry.  In  that  document  the  Supreme 
Being  as  Mother  of  India  is  represented  as  saying,  "I 
have  chosen  India  to  show  unto  all  nations  the  work- 
ing of  my  special  Providence  in  accomplishing  national 
redemption.  The  British  Government  is  my  Govern- 
ment, the  Brahmo  Somaj  is  my  Church.  My  daughter 
Oueen  Victoria,  have  I  ordained  and  set  over  the 
country  to  rule  its  people,  to  give  them  education, 
material  comfort,  and  protect  their  health  and  property. 
Be  loyal  to  her,  for  the  warrant  of  her  name  bears  my 
signature.  Love  her,  and  honour  her  as  my  servant 
and  representative,  and  give  her  your  loyal  support  and 
co-operation,  so  that  she  may  carry  out  my  purposes 
unhindered,  and  give  India  political  and  material  pros- 
perity."    All    this   belief   and  sentiment  he  formulated 


ATTITUDE  TOWARDS  POLITICAL  AGITATION.        443 

into  the  principle  of  "  Loyalty   to   Sovereign"    in   his 
simple  creed  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

India,    during  the   greater   part   of  Keshub's   public 
career,    was    the    hotbed   of  political  agitation   which 
intensified     towards    his    closing    years.     It    was    the 
educated   classes  mainly   that  created  and  kept  up  this 
agitation.     A   great  number  of  Brahmos   mixed  freely 
in  it.     The  character   of  the   excitement  need    scarcely 
be  specified.     It  is  the  spontaneous  sense  of  nationality, 
awakened  by  education,  struggling   against  the   domi- 
nance of  a  ruling  power,  whose  interests,  apparently  at 
least,    conflict   with  the   interests  of  the   people.      Of 
course    the    latter    are   weak.     What   is    their   united 
strength,  even  if  they  can   unite,  against  the  resources 
and  power  of  the  British  empire?     The  consciousness 
of  this  weakness,  added  perhaps  to  the  contemptuous 
indifference   of  a   great    many    officials   to    all    agita- 
tion about  the   people's   rights,    and  the  reckless  race 
hatred    of  individual    Englishmen    and  Hindus,  make 
the  political  discussions  of  the  day  needlessly  rancor- 
ous.    The   virulent   newspaper-writing   on   both   sides, 
the  mutual  misrepresentations,  the  abnormal  brooding 
over   occasional    instances  of   personal    wrong,    make 
peace    and    good-will    all    but    impossible.       On    the 
other  hand  again  the  sycophancy  and  subservience  of 
place-hunters,  the   timidity,    vascillation,  and  yielding 
incompetence   of  not    a  few   among   the  oppositionists 
themselves,  disgust  both  communities  alike,  and  darken 
every  prospect  of  reconciliation.     The  more  hot-headed 
amongst  the  rulers  recommend   unmitigated   coercion, 


444  LIFE  0F   KESHUB  CHUNDER   SEN. 

want  to  gag  the  press,  have  disarmed  the  nation, 
and  wish  to  ride  rough-shod  over  every  manner  of 
adverse  criticism.  The  wiser  amongst  them  do  not 
mix  in  the  personal  heat  of  the  controversy,  counsel 
moderation,  patience,  and  peace.  Little  good,  how- 
ever, seems  to  come  from  all  this,  so  far  as  the 
mitigation  of  the  ill-feeling  is  concerned.  Keshub 
took  no  part  in  the  rage  of  this  controversy.  Not 
that  his  sensibilities  lacked  in  patriotic  ardour,  or 
in  the  perception  of  wrong.  He  was  as  ready  as  any- 
body else  to  protest  against  official  injustice,  but  his 
loyalty  to  the  British  Government  never  wavered  for  a 
single  day.  He  very  profoundly  felt  that  the  benefits 
of  education,  the  refinements  and  aspirations  of  a 
re-awakened  society,  nay,  the  very  feelings  of  political 
independence  which  found  such  angry  vent,  and  above 
all  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  were  all  the 
products  of  the  advent  of  the  British  power  in  India. 
Individual  Englishmen  might  be  chargeable  with  a 
hundred  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  but  there 
was  undoubted  Providence  behind  the  British  rule. 
The  seditious  tendencies  of  the  age,  the  evil  of  unprin- 
cipled journalism,  of  noisy  theatrical  patriotism  he 
truly  deplored.  He  did  not  want  to  discourage  public 
spirit,  but  he  strongly  set  his  face  against  treasonable 
demonstrations  of  every  kind.  He  knew  that  in  the 
course  of  time  the  Brahmo  Somaj  will  be  a  very  exten- 
sive and  powerful  organization,  welding  Indian  nation- 
alities into  a  homogeneous  brotherhood,  but  he  also  knew 
that  in  India  religious  enthusiasm  has  been  the  source 


ATTITUDE   TOWARDS   POLITICAL   AGITATION.        445 

of  every  manner  of  political  disturbance.     And  he  faith- 
fully and  strenuously  endeavoured  to  foster  the  feelings 
of  steady  loyalty  in  his  Church.     "  Had  he  exercised  his 
marvellous  eloquence,"   a  high  official  said  to  the  present 
writer    soon    after    Keshub's    death,    "  to    excite    the 
thousands,    who    hung  upon   his  words    in    every    city, 
to   political    discontent,    and    seditious  agitation,    what 
disaster   might   not  have   been   the   consequence  ?  But 
far  from  that,    all  he   said,  all  he  did,  was  in  favour  of 
law,    order,    and    loyalty.     No,    he    never    forsook   the 
interests  of  the   British   Government,  and  we,  English- 
men, shall  never  forget  him  !"  Many  impartial  English- 
men   in    this  country  as  well  as  in  England,  will  bear  a 
similar   testimony.     But   his    loyalty   was    not   only   a 
public  principle,  it  was    a   private  personal  sentiment. 
Always   faithful,    grateful,    wise,    and    affectionate,    his 
English   visit   deeply    affected   his  attitude  both  to  the 
British  Government   and   the  British    people.     He   felt 
that    in   religious    and   moral   union   between    England 
and  India  lay   the    prosperity    of    both    countries,    and 
indirectly   the    prosperity    of    the    whole    world.     The 
gracious  reception  which  he  met  from  Her  Majesty  the 
Queen-Empress    only  heightened  such  impressions.     It 
had  the  effect  of  the  profoundest  religious  impulse  upon 
him.     His  loyalty  to  the  Empress  was  a  feeling  of  deep 
affection,    both  for   the   royal   person,    and    the    royal 
family.     This  feeling  he   tried   to  propagate    as    widely 
as   possible.     He   permeated    his    immediate    disciples 
with  it,  he  educated  his  wife  and  family  into  it,  he  made 
it  an  article  of  faith  in  his  Church.     He  lost  no  oppor- 


446  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

tunity  to   impress  it  upon  the  community.     He  speaks 
of  his  politics  in  the  following  manner  in  the  very  first 
number  of  the  New  Dispensation  newspaper.     u  We  do 
not  care  to  dabble  in  politics.     It  is  beyond    our   pro- 
vince.    But  so  far  as  there  is  religion  in  politics,  we  are 
bound    to     uphold     and     vindicate    it.      The     earthly 
sovereign   is  God's  representative,  and  must  therefore 
have    our    allegiance    and    homage.     We    look    upon 
Victoria    as  our  Queen-Mother,   and  we  are  politically 
her   children.     She    sits   upon   the   throne    as    India's 
mother,   guardian,   and  friend,   protecting  the  lives  and 
property  of  her  million    children,  redressing  their   just 
grievances,  promoting  their   material    and  moral  pros- 
perity, and  helping  them  to  attain   political    and   social 
manhood.     She  represents  law,  order,   justice,    and   is 
appointed  by  Providence  to  rule  over  us  as  a  mother  is 
appointed   to   look    after   her    children.     Therefore    we 
love  her,   and  honour  her,  and  consider  loyalty  to  be  as 
sacred    as   filial    obedience.     A    man    who    hates    his 
sovereign   is    morally  as  culpable  as  he  who  abhors  or 
maltreats  his  father  or  mother.     Sedition    is    rebellion 
against    the    authority   of    God's    representative,    and 
therefore   against   God.     It   is    not   merely   a   political 
offence,   but   sin   against   Providence.     Disloyalty   and 
infidelity   are   convertible  terms,   so  thoroughly  is  the 
British  Government  identified  with  the  saving  economy 
of   Providence.     The  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
historically  the  result  of   England's  rule   in  the   East, 
religiously   the    effect   of    Western   thought   upon    the 
Indian  mind,  is  profoundly  thankful  to  Empress  Victoria, 


DISLIKE  OF  PERSONAL   DISTINCTION.  447 

more  so  than  any  other  Church,  or  section  of  the  com- 
munity. So  long  as  we  believe  in  the  New  Gospel,  we 
shall  eschew  disloyalty  as  a  moral  evil,  involving  a 
treasonable  ingratitude,  and  a  denial  of  God  in  history. 
The  British  Government  may  be  weak,  and  even  vi- 
cious, yet  it  shall  command  our  respect  and  allegiance 
so  far  as  it  is  a  divine  force.  This  is  our  principle  of 
loyalty,  we  cherish  also  the  warmest  feelings  of  loyalty 
towards  the  person  of  our  sovereign.  We  love  our 
Oueen  as  our  mother." 

But  though  Keshub  was  so  intensely  loyal  at  heart, 
yet  he  never  sought  any  reward  or  recognition  for  it. 
For  years  after  his  public  career  had  commenced,  he 
was  not  even  asked  at  Government  House.  It  was  by  a 
mere  accident  he  got  into  the  Viceroy's  list.  At  State 
festivities  he  studiously  kept  behind  the  assembled 
guests,  never  venturing  forward,  and  appreciative 
Viceroys  had  to  send  their  aides-de-  camp  to  make  a 
regular  pursuit  of  him,  and  unearth  him  out  of  his 
corner  in  the  promiscuous  crowd.  When  the  Govern- 
ment of  Sir  Richard  Temple  in  1875  offered  to  make 
him  a  Municipal  Commissioner  and  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  he  thankfully  declined  the  honor,  and  when 
in  the  Imperial  Assemblage  at  Delhi  in  1876,  they 
promised  to  decorate  him  with  a  medal,  his  modesty 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  accept  the  distinction. 
This  genuine  loyalty  that  he  felt  for  his  Sovereign 
regulated  his  whole  conduct  towards  the  Princes  and 
Rajas  of  his  own  country,  in  short  towards  all  persons 
having  authority.     His  relations  to  some  of  the  Indian 


448  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

Chiefs  were  most  cordial,  and  principal  amongst  these 
was  His  Highness  Tukaji  Holkar,  the  late  ruler  of 
Indore.  Keshub  visited  Indore  in  1874,  and  an  intimate 
friendship  sprang  up  between  the  Maharaja  and  the 
Brahmo  leader,  which  the  former  did  his  best  to  main- 
tain to  the  end.  Keshub's  advice  was  sought  in  almost 
every  important  affair  which  concerned  the  Chiefs  inter- 
ests, and  the  latter' s  confidence  in  him  was  unbounded. 
He  presented  dresses  of  honor  or  khillats  to  his  friend, 
valued  at  large  sums  of  money;  and  when  the  Albert  Hall 
was  established,  his  help  was  sought,  and  the  Maharaja 
made  a  donation  of  Rs.  8,000,  the  largest  amount,  we 
believe,  which  any  individual  contributed  to  that  under- 
taking. The  fact  is  he  paid  on  this  occasion  proportion- 
ately to  his  esteem  for  the  founder  of  the  Albert  Hall. 
Krishna  Behari  Sen  thus  describes  their  relations  : — 

"  Holkar  came  to  Calcutta  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  1875. 
The  Maharaja  left  himself  entirely  in  the  hands  of  his  friend  (Keshub)  the 
place  where  he  was  to  reside,  the  supply  of  stores  and  food  for  his  household 
and  retinue,  the  smallest  details — were  all  left  to  be  settled  by  him.  The 
friends  of  the  Minister  were  surprised  to  find  him  so  well  able  to  go  through 
the  complicated  details  of  a  royal  reception.  A  large  sum  of  money  was  left 
to  him  to  be  dealt  out  in  public  charities,  and  among  his  gifts  was  the  magni- 
ficent donation  of  Rs.  8,000  for  the  Albert  Hall,  and  other  sums  for  the 
benefit  of  the  educational  institutions  of  the  city.  Holkar  invited  the  ladies 
of  Air.  Sen's  family  and  introduced  them  to  the  Maharanis.  The  Minister's 
mother  was  highly  honoured  when  the  Maharaja  turned  to  her  and  said — 
'Are  you  not  my  mother  also  ?'  From  Calcutta  H.  H.  went  to  Burdwan. 
His  friend  went  to  the  Howrah  station  to  bid  him  farewell.  As  the  train 
was  about  to  start,  and  words  of  farewell  were  about  to  be  exchanged,  the 
Maharajah  caught  the  hands  of  the  Minister,  and  took  him  into  his  own 
carriage,  and  then  the  train  left  the  station.  At  Burdwan  the  Maharajah 
came  to  receive  the  party.     The  two    Maharajahs   had   occupied    the   carriage 


RELATIONS   WITH  NATIVE   PRINCES,  449 

and  every  one  was  about  to  start  when  Holkar  stopped  and  cried  for  Babu 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  The  latter  came  to  the  front,  and  was  driven  along 
with  him  to  the  palace  where  separate  arrangements  were  made  for  his 
comfort  and  reception.  Of  course,  he  was  not  Burdwan's,  but  Indore's 
guest.  The  day  after  their  arrival  the  guests  were  out  promenading  by  the 
side  of  the  tank,  when  Holkar  asked  for  a  boat.  It  was  brought  on  the 
shoulders  of  many  men,  and  His  Highness  stepped  into  it.  The  cry  arose — 
Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  !  Babu  Keshub  Chunder  entered  the  boat  also. 
So  the  two  rowed  together.  The  boat  rounded  the  coast  once  or  twice, 
the  Maharajah  of  Burdwan  and  the  whole  court  walking  and  keeping  pace 
with  the  vessel  all  the  while.  Gradually  the  boatmen  carried  the  passengers 
to  the  centre  of  the  tank ,  and  there  for  more  than  half  an  hour  they  remained 
engaged  in  conversation  on  important  political  subjects.  The  sight  was 
interesting,  and  to  the  host  and  his  friends  a  little  inexplicable  too,  Burdwan 

wondering  what  on  earth  could  draw  these  two  souls  together  !  " 

"  The  next  time  that  they  had  dealings  with  each  other  was  when  the 
Cuch  Behar  marriage  took  place.  As  soon  as  H.  H,  heard  of  it  he  sent  an 
agent  to  Calcutta  with  a  rich  khillut  and  cordial  letter  of  congratulation. 
The  last  occasion  of  their  meeting  was  the  Delhi  assemblage.  Babu  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  was  not  invited  by  Government,  but  he  went  there  as  the 
guest  of  Holkar.  In  those  days  our  Minister  had  commenced  his  ascetic 
practice  of  cooking,  and  in  Indore's  tent  he  cooked  for  himself  and  carried 
on  his  usual  devotional  services.  Holkar  one  day  began  to  banter  him  for 
this  practice.  '  Why  this  folly,  Babu  Saheb,  while  you  may  have  everything 
done  by  others  ?  '  'To  promote  poorness  of  spirit,'  was  the  reply.  His 
Highness  heard  it  and  kept  quiet. 

Keshub' s  relations  with  the  Maharajah  of  Jaipur 
were  also  cordial,  as  Jaipur  was  the  Native  State 
where  a  great  many  of  his  near  relatives  were  settled, 
and  employed  by  the  Maharajah  in  responsible  posts. 
The  British  Government  knew  of  the  confidence  reposed 
in  the  Brahmo  reformer  by  the  Native  Princes,  and 
though  it  watches  their  movements  with  jealousy,  it 
never  discouraged  such  friendship,  but  on  the  contrary 
thought  it  beneficial. 

57 


450  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

In    the  early  years  of  Keshub's  life  his  ardent  love  of 
dramatic  performances  has  been  described.     It   was    a 
beautiful   characteristic   in  him  that  he  never  lost  as  he 
grew  great,  his  youthful  love  for  any  innocent  recreation- 
On    the   contrary   this   early    appetite   for    amusement 
became,  as  everything  else  became  in  him,  chastened, 
exalted,   and   assimilated   to   his   desire   of  serving   the 
public.     He  had  a  great  fondness  for  the  popular  musical 
entertainments  known  as  'Jatras.     It  was  to  be  expected 
that  with  mature  years,  and  many  severe  trials  in   life, 
he  should  outgrow  this  boyish  taste.     Far  from  it,  when 
the  ascetic  developments  of  the  New  Dispensation  were 
in  full  swing,  he  would  incur  considerable  trouble  and 
expense  to  arrange  for  a  first  class  Jatra>  in  order  that 
his    congregation    and    missionaries    might    have    an 
interval   of   amusement  to  vary  the  uniform  routine  of 
their   intensely    spiritual   pursuits.      He  had   a   boyish 
fondness   for  making  purchases  of  objects    that    struck 
his    fancy,    but     his     pecuniary   resources   being    very 
limited,  the  fulfilment  of  this  desire  sometimes  became 
rather  eccentric  and   inconvenient.     Somehow   it    grew 
to  be  a  fact  of  his  nature  that  the  objects   he  wanted  to 
possess  had   an   influence   upon    the     direction    of   his 
spiritual    culture.     For  instance,  his  most  characteristic 
and    oft-repeated    principle    was    Christ's    teaching   of 
taking    no    thought  for  the  morrow.     This  precept  as 
every  one  knows  was  illustrated  by  the  example   of  the 
fowls  of   the   air.     And  Keshub  would  sometimes  go  to 
the  bazar,  and  bring  home  large  cages  of  beautiful  little 
birds,    which   he   would   feed   and    nurse  with  the  most 


ODD  FANCIES.  45  I 

assiduous  care   till  the   poor  things  all  died   one   after 
another   in    the  course  of  a  few  weeks  !  His  garden  had 
a  pond  which  was  the  scene  of  some  of  his   ceremonies, 
and   which   he   called   Kamal  Saravar    or  "  the  lake  of 
lilies."     He  wanted  to  float  a  little   boat   on    this   lake, 
emblematic   of    the   voyage  of  life  in  the  waters  of  the 
world.     But  a  picturesque  boat  was  a  costly   affair,   and 
it  so    happened  his  exchequer  was  so  insufficient  at  the 
time  that  a  benevolently  disposed    friend,  a  well-known 
police-officer,  had  volunteered  to  manage  his  household 
for  him.     Keshub  secretly  meditated  on  what  he  should 
do  under  the  circumstance,  and  one  fine    afternoon    ab- 
sented himself  from  home  for   a  long  time.     When  he 
returned  he  came  with  the   longed-for  boat   on   men's 
shoulders,    who   immediately   floated  it  on    "  the   lake 
of  lilies."     We  were  full  of  admiration,  but  the  friendly 
police-officer   was    so  put  out  by  this  extravagance  that 
he  resigned  his  charge  of   managing  Keshub's   affairs  ! 
We  shall  give  another  instance  of  this  boyish  simplicity. 
One  unfailing  companion  he  always  had  in  his  devo- 
tions, and   that  was  his    "  Sweet   Ektara."     This    is    a 
primitive    musical    instrument    of    one    string,    which 
wandering   Hindu   devotees  carry   with  them.     It  does 
not   require   any   skill    or    culture    to   play   upon    the 
Ektara,    and   that   was  specially  why  Keshub  preferred 
it.     It  is  a  standing   protest   against  the  elaborate  and 
unspiritual  art  of  modern  music.     He  went  on   striking 
at  the  wire  with  his  forefinger,  while   he   ejaculated  his 
prayers  with  the  rudest,  and  most   devoted  simplicity. 
In   religious   services   he    secretly    detested    scientific 


452  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

music,  and  musical  instruments.  Our  friend  Trylokya, 
the  singing  apostle,  whose  musical  tastes  were  more 
complicated,  had  procured  a  tambura  from  somewhere 
which  he  used  to  keep  in  Keshub's  bedroom,  on  the 
top  of  an  almira.  One  night,  some  time  after  he  had 
gone  to  bed,  he  quietly  got  up,  fetched  down  the 
tambura  from  its  lofty  perch,  and  began  deliberately  to 
pull  out  the  wires,  and  crush  the  woodwork  to  pieces. 
His  wife  woke  up  alarmed  at  the  noise,  and  asked  what 
he  was  about.  He  coolly  replied  "  he  was  smashing 
Trylokya's  tambura,  he  had  tolerated  it  long  enough, 
he  was  now  bent  upon  destroying  it."  From  that  day 
Brother  Trylokya  gave  up  the  use  of  the  tambura  in 
the  daily  apostolic  services,  and  the  ektara  reigned  with- 
out a  rival.  Strange  as  all  this  may  seem  side  by  side 
with  the  asceticism,  sacraments,  and  high  spiritualities 
of  the  New  Dispensation,  it  found  a  combination  in 
Keshub's  complex  mind,  and  as  the  apostolic  fervour 
increased,  his  early  predilections  increased  also,  and 
found  a  systematic  embodiment.  His  great  idea  now 
became  to  found  a  New  Dispensation  Drama.  In 
August  1 88 1,  he  wrote  as  follows  in  his  newspaper  : 

•'The  drama  exercises  an  influence  upon  society  hardly  inferior  to  that 
which  the  Press  has  been  acknowledged  to  exert  upon  the  destinies  of 
nations.  But  as  every  good  thing  in  this  world  is  liable  to  abuse,  and  has 
proved  a  prolific  source  of  mischief,  the  drama  is  no  exception.  In  this, 
country  the  history  of  the  drama  during  the  last  twenty  years  has  not  been 
altogether  such  as  to  cause  rejoicing  and  congratulation.  National  morals 
have  suffered  grievously,  and  many  there  are  who  hesitate  to  send  their  sons 
to  native  theatricals  lest  they  should  come  back  with  their  tastes  corrupted 
and  their   baser  proclivities  inflamed.     Are    we   then    to  reject    the  drama  ? 


THE  NEW   DISPENSATION   DRAMA.  453 

Is  it  not  possible  to  bring  serious  subjects  on  the  stage  ?  May  we  not  teach 
the  profligate  to  repent,  help  the  worldly-minded  to  become  godly,  arrest 
the  growth  of  prevailing  unbelief,  and  turn  the  nation's  thoughts,  tastes  and 
sentiments  towards  God  and  truth  through  the  drama  ?  May  we  not  there- 
by advance  the  cause  of  the  New  Dispensation  ?    Yes,  we  may." 

He  accordingly  set  on  foot  the  project  of  having  a 
New  Dispensation  play  as  soon  as  possible.  Brother 
Trylokya  Nath's  pen  was  always  ready,  and  he  began 
to  compose  the  Nava  Brindaban  Natak  in  right  earnest. 
The  plot  was  somewhat  to  this  effect.  A  highly  edu- 
cated young  man,  law  graduate  of  the  University,  took 
to  the  usual  course  of  intemperance  and  sin.  And  so 
far  did  he  go  in  this  course  of  vice  and  professional 
dishonesty  that  he  was  at  last  seized  by  the  Police, 
tried  for  his  offences,  and  transported  to  the  Andaman 
Islands.  In  his  place  of  exile  he  reflected  on  his  past 
sins,  became  truly  repentant,  and  was  converted  to  a 
highly  moral  and  religious  life.  In  the  meantime  his 
miserable  wife,  who  by  the  additional  loss  of  her  child, 
for  a  time  lost  her  reason,  was  also  drawn  strongly  to 
a  religious  life.  Her  husband,  however,  by  his  good 
conduct  acquired  the  favour  of  his  keepers,  and  at  last 
obtained  a  pardon.  He  returned  home  a  very  humble 
devout  man,  and  instead  of  settling  down  to  domestic 
life,  took  his  wife  with  him,  and  wandered  about  the 
country  in  search  of  holy  men,  and  spiritual  guides. 
In  the  course  of  time  he  found  access  to  some  saintly 
souls  on  the  way,  whose  company,  example,  and  teach- 
ing did  him  the  greatest  service.  Such  communion  led 
to  further   travels,   and    they    at   last    arrived  at  Nava 


454  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

Brindaban,  a  Hindu  form  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  where 
the  representatives  of  all  nations,  and  the  devotees  of 
different  religions  glorified  God  the  Father  in  a  univer- 
sal brotherhood.  The  story,  of  which  we  only  give  the 
barest  skeleton,  was  embellished  and  improved  by 
constant  suggestions  which  Keshub  made.  Most  of 
the  Brahmo  missionaries,  as  well  as  laymen,  enthusias- 
tically enlisted  themselves  as  actors  of  the  new  play, 
which  produced  very  strong  and  wholesome  effects  on 
the  public  mind. 

In  the  beginning  of  1882,  during  the  anniversary 
festival,  Keshub' s  fatal  malady  was  first  discovered. 
His  constitution  was  exceedingly  nervous,  and  within 
a  few  days  he  began  to  get  fits  of  faintness  which 
greatly  alarmed  his  friends.  The  lecture  on  "  That 
Marvellous  Mystery,  the  Trinity,"  one  of  his  master- 
pieces was,  however,  safely  delivered.  Medical  treat- 
ment promptly  began,  and  he  was  put  upon  a  diet 
which  no  doubt  enfeebled  him.  Much  of  his  active 
work  had  to  be  shared  by  his  colleagues,  and  as  much 
rest  given  him  as  possible.  But  the  idea  of  the  New 
Dispensation  Theatre,  which  had  worked  in  his  mind 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  year  had  to  be  carried 
out,  and  he  set  about  it  as  actively  as  it  was  his  nature 
to  do.  The  plot  and  the  effect  of  the  Nava  Brindaban 
drama  were  continually  improved.  His  mechanical 
genius  in  stage  management  and  scenic  taste,  cultivated 
in  youth,  were  matured  by  experience  and  occasional  at- 
tendance at  the  Metropolitan  English  theatres.  And  re- 
lieved from  much  of  his  ordinary  work  he  applied  himself 


THE  NEW  DANCE.  455 

wholly  to  make  the  theatre  a  success.     During  the   hot 
months    May    and  June   he   became   worse,    and   was 
therefore    sent  on   a  change   to   Darjeeling.     He  went 
there    after    performing   the  Namkaran    (name   giving) 
ceremony  of  his  tenth  child.     The  climate  of  the  Hima- 
layas did  him  no  good,  and  perhaps  some  harm,  though 
the  coolness  of  the  air  was  a  relief  after  the  burning  heat 
of  the  plains.    He  returned  to  Calcutta  soon,  and  the  New 
Dispensation   drama   was  put   upon  the  stage   in    the 
middle  of  September.    A  few  months  before  this,  Keshub 
introduced   the   practice   of  what  he  called   "  the  New 
Dance."    In  India  dancing  and  singing  in  the  excitement 
of  religious  emotion  has  been  the  custom   of  all  sects 
from   time   immemorial.     Every  form  of  popular  faith 
had  always  possessed  this  custom.    In  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
the  practice  had    gradually   introduced   itself  since  the 
devotional  development  in  1866,  and  gained  force  and 
permanency.     At  first   Keshub  himself  in  his  natural 
shyness,  kept  aloof  from  the  dancing,  but  as  he  more  and 
more   largely   partook   of  the  popular    excitement,    he 
threw  off  this  reserve,   and  enthusiastically  joined    it. 
He  had  never  done  so   more   heartily  than   during  the 
anniversary  of  1882,   when,    in   the   first   stage    of  his 
illness,  the   exhaustion    of  the    exercise   brought  on   a 
serious  fit   of  fainting.     But  far   from  giving   it  up   on 
that  account,   he   organized  it    into    a  regular   institu- 
tion    of    his     Church    during    the    succeeding   August 
festival.     It   was    done    on    an    elaborate  method,   and 
Keshub  describes  it  thus  : — 

"  The  New  Dance  on  the  occasion  of  our  late  holy  festival  was  a  success. 


456  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

If  it  failed  at  all  it  was  because  of  too  much  success.  The  number  of  dan- 
cers doubled  and  trebled  in  no  time,  and  exceeded  all  calculations,  and  the 
enthusiasm  was  so  great  that  the  limited  space  in  front  of  the  Vedi  where 
the  dance  took  place  soon  became  hot  as  a  furnace.  Yet  the  shout  and  the 
gallop,  and  the  joyous  whirl  round  and  round  went  on,  and  it  was  quite  a 
blessed  sight  to  see  so  many  boys  and  youths  and  men  of  maturer  years  all 
dancing  around  their  invisible  Mother  in  the  centre.  The  three  '  circles ' 
wore  chiuiders  of  different  colours,  yellow,  white  and  brown,  and  as  they 
moved,  one  within  another,  with  hands  upraised,  keeping  time  to  the 
deep,  sweet  sound  of  the  sacred  Mridanga,  the  sight  was  both  cheering 
and  inspiring.  The  limited  accommodation  proved  a  source  of  inconveni- 
ence, and  even-body  felt  that  the  New  Dance  required  a  much  larger  area 
where  hundreds  might  join  and  dance  merrily.  There  was  the  flag  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  and  the  usual  accompaniment  of  native  dance,  the  jing- 
ling nepur  was  not  wanting  on  the  occasion.  Bhai  Kunja  Bihari  led  the 
dance." 

It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  imagine  what  the  feelings 
of  the  European  reader  would  be  at  the  introduction  of 
this  practice.  And  we  remember  not  a  few  intelligent 
Hindu  theists  also  disapproved  of  it.  But  it  will 
have  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  religion  ot  the 
New  Dispensation  was  meant  to  be  the  religion  of  the 
people,  of  the  poor,  of  the  excitable  impulsive  masses 
who  are  inebriated  with  their  devotional  feelings. 
The  same  rule  of  ecclesiastical  respectability  cannot 
be  applicable  to  all  classes  anywhere,  much  less  in 
India.  The  religion  of  spontaneous  instincts  has  in  all 
ages  been  the  religion  of  India.  And  Keshub's  great 
aim  was  to  give  his  country  a  national  religion,  which 
in  its  various  practices  would  suit  every  kind  of  spiri- 
tual constitution.  The  Theatre,  the  Dance,  and  "  the 
Jugglery  of  the  New  Dispensation  '  which  followed  the 
latter,  were  made  the  subjects  of  renewed  criticism,  and 


RITUALISM   EXPLAINED.  457 

this  time  a  part  of  the  Christian  community  joined  the 
common  cry  that  all  this  would  lead  to  "  the  demorali- 
zation "  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 

We  have,  as  briefly  as  we  could  alluded  to  almost  all 
the  ceremonies  and  celebrations  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion.    It  is  time  now  to  ask  how  many  of  these  practices 
Keshub  meant  to  perpetuate.     Was  it  his  object   to  set 
them  forth  as  essential  and  unavoidable  requirements  of 
his  religion,  or  were  they  'meant   as   mere   illustrations 
of  the  spirit  and  teaching   of  the    New    Dispensation 
to   suit   the   imaginative  character  of  his  countrymen  ? 
If   they  were  nothing  more   than   forms,  tentative   and 
transitory,    much    of  the  serious  objection  felt  against 
them    disappears.     As  in  his  own  case,  disciplines  and 
forms   were  accepted  for   passing  necessities,  and  fell 
into   disuse  as  soon   as   the  wants   were   satisfied,    so 
in  the  case  of  his  Church    most  of  these  vows  and  cere- 
monies were  temporary  disciplines.     They  were  largely 
opposed  because  men   thought   they   were  going  to  be 
adopted  as  permanent   institutions.     The  outside  criti- 
cism took  a  serious  aspect  coming  from  the  few  English 
friends  left  after  the  crisis  of  the  Cuch  Behar  marriage 
controversy,  and  also   from  some  of  our  well-wishers  in 
this  country.     This  was  earnestly  pointed  out  to  him, 
and  he  so  far  sympathized  with  the   objections  as   to 
have   the  following  important   resolution   passed  at   a 
conference   of    the   Brahmo   missionaries   held,    during 
the  agitation,  in  his  domestic  sanctuary. 

"  The  fundamental   truths  of   Brahma   Dharma,   in  which   we   had  faith 
before,  we  still  continue  to  hold.     Our  faith  in  this  respect    has   not   been   in 

58 


458  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

the  least  shaken.  But  though  these  truths  are  certain  and  immutable,  our 
characters  and  social  lives  are  neither  certain  nor  immovable.  In  the  course 
of  time  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  will  find  its  way  into  the  lives  of 
Brahmos,  and  will  be  embodied  in  customs,  usages,  language,  literature, 
social  rules  and  institutions,  as  well  as  forms  of  worship,  and  devotional  dis- 
ciplines. How  this  will  happen  we  do  not  know,  it  is  known  to  God  only. 
Led  by  His  spirit  we  are  making  progress  in  that  direction.  According  to 
the  wants  we  feel  from  time  to  time,  according  to  the  emergencies  and 
dangers  of  our  position,  according  to  our  inward  condition,  God  sends  unto 
us  His  dispensations.  And  we  too  instead  of  being  sceptical  and  obstructive, 
in  obedience  to  the  vows  of  our  sendee,  follow  these  dispensations.  So  long 
as  a  particular  dispensation  remains  in  force,  we  obey  it,  and  realize  its 
spirit.  When  the  want  is  supplied,  and  the  crisis  is  over,  and  our  condition 
varies,  a  new  discipline  is  administered  unto  us  which  becomes  the  object  of 
our  obedience  again.  Therefore  our  outward  proceedings  are  subject  to  change. 
Those  changes  are  temporary,  conformable  to  circumstances,  and  ordained  by 
Providence.  From  observing  them  no  one  ought  to  conclude  that  there  has 
been  any  change  in  us  so  far  as  fundamental  truths  and  sentiments  are 
concerned.  As  the  tree  grows  out  of  the  seed,  so  does  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
grow  out  of  its  seed  truths.  In  regard  to  language,  and  forms,  and  externals 
there  has  been  change,  and  there  shall  be  more  change  in  future.  But 
through  the  midst  of  it  all,  we  shall  with  our  families  and  friends,  acquire 
greater  love,  holiness,  and  enthusiasm.  Let  our  generous  friends  wait  with 
hope  and  patience.  Let  them  not  be  offended  by  agitation  and  change. 
And  in  the  end,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  they  will  understand  the  real  organi- 
zation of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  the  harmony  of  its  parts."* 

It  is  an  unspeakable  misfortune  that  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  did  not  live  to  complete  that  harmony,  and  ex- 
plain his  meaning.  But  the  meaning  has  been  abun- 
dantly indicated  by  his  subsequent  utterances,  very 
carefully  made,  on  the  character  of  his  religion.  Says 
he  in  the  Nezv  Dispensation  paper  : 

The   New   Dispensation   is   thoroughly  scientific.     It   hates  whatsoever  i> 

*  This  resolution  appeared  in   the   Theistic  Quarterly  Review  for  May, 
1 880. 


EUROPEAN  AND   ASIATIC   TRAITS.  459 

unscientific.  It  has  an  abhorrence  of  delusions  and  myths.  It  is  empirical, 
and  relies  upon  observation  and  experience.  It  has  no  hypothesis,  and  it 
takes  nothing  on  trust.  It  stands  the  severest  logical  tests,  and  is  made 
up  of  demonstrable  truths.  It  is  supported  by  reasoning,  inductive  and 
deductive.  It  harmonizes  with  the  latest  discoveries  of  science  and  keeps  pace 
with  the  progress  of  philosophy  and  exact  science.  It  touches  not,  and 
cautiously  avoids,  supernaturalism,  and  the  whole  domain  of  miracles  and 
prophecies.  Dreams,  visions,  trance,  illumination,  spirit-rapping,  reveries,  it 
discountenances.  It  has  no  faith  in  a  visible  or  audible  divinity,  or  in  spirits 
that  speak  or  are  spoken  to.  It  acknowledges  no  infallible  human  guide,  no 
infallible  book.  It  is  prepared  to  reject  eveiy  doctrine  which  science  may 
oppose  or  new  discoveries  may  explode.  The  New  Dispensation  loves  history. 
It  reveres  history  because  it  believes  in  Providence,  and  sees  God  in  history. 
The  New  Dispensation  is  thoroughly  practical.  It  is  the  religion  of  activity 
and  energy.  It  is  the  worship  of  industry.  It  deprecates  laziness  and 
indolence  as  a  sin  against  God.  It  is  the  service  of  man  in  varied  fields  of 
philanthropic  usefulness.  It  is  the  religion  of  study,  researches,  criticism, 
thought  and  dialectic.  It  is  never-ceasing  in  godly  work.  The  lazy  mendi- 
cant, the  sleepy  faquir,  the  fanciful  theorist,  the  speechless  quietist  find  no 
place  in  it.     In  the  temple  of  work  it  adores  the  God  of  Force. 

He  balances  these  practical  traits  which  he  calls 
European  traits,  by  setting  forth  the  emotional,  or 
Asiatic  traits  of  the  New  Dispensation  thus  : — 

The  New  Dispensation  is  profoundly  emotional.  It  hates  dryness.  It  is 
the  religion  of  tender  love  and  sweet  affection.  Faith  without  love,  work 
without  love  it  doth  not  countenance.  It  affords  the  fullest  culture  to  all  the 
highest  emotions  and  impulses  of  the  heart.  Its  wisdom  is  the  loving  know- 
ledge of  God,  its  work  is  the  loving  service  of  God.  It  possesses  a  heart 
overflowing  with  the  milk  of  love  and  eyes  glistening  with  tears  of  devo- 
tion. It  makes  all  things  sweet  by  its  touch.  The  New  Dispensation 
is  eminently  poetical.  Its  thoughts  and  sentiments  are  poetical,  its  language 
js  the  language  of  poetry.  Plain  dull  insipid  prose  does  not  accord  with  its 
imaginative  spirit.  It  represents  the  golden  age  of  religion,  when  all  looks 
bright  and  joyous,  and  heaven  and  earth  shine  in  fascinating  colours.  It 
clothes  truth  in  the  soft  silken  drapery  of  imagination.     It   deals  largely  in 


460  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER    SEN. 

metaphors  and  allegories,  in  parables  and  rich  imagery.  The  New  Dispensa- 
tion is  transcendentally  spiritual.  Its  eyes  are  naturally  turned  inward  and 
they  see  vividly  the  spirit-world  within.  It  prefers  the  soul-kingdom  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  senses.  It  abhors  materialism.  It  always  magnifies  the 
spirit,  and  spiritualizes  everything  it  touches.  It  sees  with  the  spirit-eye  and 
hears  with  the  spirit-ear.  It  drinks  inspiration.  It  builds  the  eternal  city, 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  within,  and  dwells  therein  all  the  spare  hours  of  the 
day.  The  New  Dispensation  is  the  religion  of  poverty  and  asceticism.  Its 
motto  is  "  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity."  It  loves  and  honours  simplicity. 
In  dress  and  diet  it  is  always  poor  and  abstemious.  It  shuns  carnality 
and  the  riches  and  honours  of  the  world  as  temptations,  and  prefers  life  in 
the  hermitage.     Humble  and  poor  is  the  man  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

The  reader  in  comparing  the  two  parts  of  the  state- 
ment will  be  struck  with  the  absence  of  any  allusion  to 
ceremonies  and  symbols.  If  these  had  been  essential  to 
his  system,  is  there  any  doubt  he  should  have  said  so  in 
such  an  elaborate  exposition  of  the  character  of  the 
New  Dispensation  r  The  fact  is,  he  looked  upon  these 
rites  as  a  passing  phase  of  culture,  useful  in  throwing 
light  upon  a  certain  order  of  religious  experiences. 
Ceremonies  and  disciplines  were  to  be  used,  but  never 
adopted  as  permanent,  or  at  all  essential. 

Nothing,  however,  is  so  conclusive  on  the  point  as  the 
few  words  of  reply  [New  Dispensation,  September  30th, 
1 881)  which  were  given  to  Professor  Max  Miiller's  ob- 
jection to  ritualism.  "  In  anti-ritualistic  Theism,"  says 
Keshub,  "  which  is  wholly  spiritual  and  above  the  senses, 
was  there  any  necessity  for  forms  or  rites  ?  None  what- 
ever. And  because  there  was  no  necessity  there  was 
a  deep  necessity  to  prove  there  was  no  necessity.  .  . . 
Nothing  can  better  explain  an  old  lifeless  ceremony 
than  a   new,    living,     illustrative    ceremony And 


THE  USEFULNESS   OF   CEREMONIES.  46 1 

who  were  they  that  performed  these  rites  ?  All  ?  No. 
Only  a  few.  And  how  often  were  they  performed? 
Only  upon  one  single  occasion.  The  needful  explana- 
tion was  given.  And  that  was  all."  Undoubtedly  then 
Keshub  never  meant  the  perpetuation  of  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  New  Dispensation.  Why  then  did 
he  perform  them  at  all  ?  The  explanation  of  ceremony 
through  ceremony  we  understand.  But  there  was 
another  purpose,  or  why  should  the  ceremonies  take 
place  so  often  and  so  repeatedly  ?  Religious  prac- 
tices as  a  vehicle  of  the  religious  spirit  he  undoubtedly 
upheld,  ceremonies  found  a  place  in  his  catholic  spiri- 
tual economy.  Only  ceremonies  were  never  meant 
to  be  essential,  they  had  no  abstract  and  absolute  value 
of  their  own,  they  were  never  to  cramp  the  spirit,  nor 
bar  the  way  to  future  and  fresh  developments.  As 
natural  embodiments  of  deep  faith,*  they  have  their 
great  use,  but  Keshub  knew  the  danger  of  making  any 
ceremony  perpetual,  or  enforcing  it  as  essential. 

*  See  p.  288. 


462  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Last  Days,  1883- 1884. 

rHE  disastrous  year  1883  opened  with  Keshub's  last 
lecture  on  "Asia's  Message  to  Europe."  This  lecture 
was  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  which  caused  the  pro- 
duction of  the  New  Year's  Day  Epistle  published  only  a 
few  weeks  before.  The  object  of  both  was  to  lay  before 
mankind  the  perfectly  unsectarian  and  universal  char- 
acter of  the  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation,  "  to  send 
unto  the  world  a  message  of  peace  and  love,  of  har- 
mony and  reconciliation."  He  called  upon  "Asia, 
Europe,  Africa,  and  America  with  diverse  instruments 
to  praise  the  New  Dispensation,  and  sing  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  and  Brotherhood  of  Man."  He  proclaimed 
his  Church  "  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Future."  To 
Christ  he  assigns  the  position  of  the  "  Human  Centre  ' 
of  this  Church,  because,  says  he,  Christ  Jesus  identifies 
himself  not  only  with  Divinity,  but  with  Humanity. 
"  In  blessed  God-vision  he  saw  his  force  was  God-force, 
and  he  also  saw  himself  in  all  nations,  and  he  saw  all  the 
world  summed  up  in  himself."  ....  "  Behold  the  central 
figure  of  the  Divine  Son.  The  radii  of  all  human  races 
and  nationalities  from  the  remotest  parts  in  the  circum- 
ference of  humanity  converge  and  meet  in  him.  He 
itttracts  all  unto  himself,  and  reconciles  all  in  a  common 
fellowship    with    himself    and    his    God."     Such    was 


PROGRESS   OF  ILLNESS.  463 

Xeshub's  final  view  of  the  Future  Church,  and  the  place 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  it.  The  lecture  was  delivered  under 
great  physical  strain,  for  he  was  not  at  all  well  at  the 
time,  and  the  disease,  detected  last  year,  had  gained 
very  firm  hold  upon  his  constitution.  Those  who  closely 
watched  him  were  alarmed  both  at  the  change  of  his 
appearance,  and  the  constant  failure  of  vigour  in  his 
speech. 

In  April  Keshub  was  ordered  by  his  medical  advisers 
to  leave  Calcutta  for  Simla  on  the  Himalayas,   and  he 
departed  with  his  family  on  the  22nd,  reaching  his  desti- 
nation on  the  3rd  of  the  next  month  "quite  prostrated," 
writes  his  brother,  "  by  fever  and  diarrhoea,  which  he  had 
caught  on  the  way.     On  his  arrival  he  was  placed  under 
the  treatment  of  Dr.  Davies.     Later  accounts  say  that 
he    was    progressing     favourably,    though    extremely 
weak."    Keshub,  however,  had  gone  to  the  hills  not  with- 
out  other  purposes   than  the   restoration  of  his  health. 
In   Calcutta   lately   the   frequent    disputes   among   his 
immediate  disciples,  and  his   regret    at   the   decline   of 
their  apostolical  life  led  him  to  lay  down  certain  special 
rules  on  the  Bengali  New  Year's  Day.*     He   meditated 
a   far   larger   undertaking   now.     He  undoubtedly  felt 
his  life  was  ebbing  away,   though  he  never   expressed 
by  the  least   word  or  indication  his  misgivings  on  that 
point.     He  wanted,  while  he  had  the   strength,    to   lay 
down   a   comprehensive  Law  of  Religious   Life  for  the 
whole  Church  of  Indian  Theism.     He   was   more    and 
more   convinced   every  year   that  a  new   religion  in  a 

*  See  p.  318. 


4 64  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN. 

country  like  India  could  never  grow  unless  definite 
rules  of  conduct  were  enjoined  by  persons  who  had 
authority.  A  book  of  domestic  ritual,  called  Anusthan 
Paddhati,  had  been  attempted  by  Devendra  Nath  Tagore, 
but  a  Samhtta,  or  Law  of  Life,  embracing  every  depart- 
ment of  personal,  domestic,  and  social  duty  no  one  had 
tried  to  give.  There  was  no  doubt  in  his  mind,  that 
such  rules  were  wanted,  and  that  he,  as  leader  and 
minister,  was  the  proper  person  to  lay  them  down.  So 
he  wanted  to  make  the  performance  of  that  duty  the 
last  and  crowning  act  of  his  life,  and  he  wanted  to  do  it 
from  the  top  of  the  sacred  Himalayas.  As  soon 
therefore  as  he  rallied  from  the  attack  of  illness  which 
had  overtaken  him  on  his  first  arrival,  he  began  "  the 
Nava  Samhita  (New  Code)  or  the  Sacred  Laws  of  the 
Aryans  of  the  New  Dispensation."  It  appeared  in 
instalments  in  the  New  Dispensation  paper. 

He  had  already  promulgated  the  following  ideal  of 
the  man  of  the  New  Dispensation  in  the  year  before  : — 

I.  I  look  upon  woman  as  the  daughter  of  God,  and  regard  her  with  honour 
and  affection.  I  cherish  no  impure  thought  or  wish  in  regard  to  her.  2.  I 
forgive  and  love  mine  enemies,  and  do  not  indulge  in  anger  when  provoked 
by  them.  3.  I  rejoice  in  other  men's  happiness,  and  do  not  feel  envy  or 
jealousy.  4.  I  am  humble  in  disposition  ;  there  is  no  kind  of  pride  in  my 
heart ;  whether  it  be  the  pride  of  position,  of  wealth,  or  learning,  or  power, 
or  religion.  5.  I  am  an  ascetic,  and  do  not  think  of  the  morrow.  I  do 
not  seek,  nor  touch  the  riches  of  the  world ;  I  only  accept  the  gifts  which 
come  from  God.  6.  I  give  religious  instruction  to  my  wife  and  family 
according  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  7.  I  am  a  lover  of  justice  ;  I  give 
every  one  his  due  ;  I  give  proper  prices  for  things  bought,  and  the  wages 
of  servants  in  due  time.  8.  I  speak  the  truth,  nothing  but  the  truth.  I 
hate   ever)-   manner   of  falsehood,     q.     I   am   charitable    to    the  poor,    and 


NAVA   SAMHITA,   OR  TTIE   LAWS   OF   LIFE.  465 

anxious  to  relieve  suffering.  According  to  my  means  I  contribute  money  to 
charitable  purposes.  10.  I  love  all  men,  I  always  try  to  do  good  to  my  kind. 
I  am  not  selfish.  II.  My  heart  is  fixed  on  divine  and  heavenly  things.  I 
am  not  given  to  worldliness.  12.  I  dearly  love  every  heaven-sent  apostolic 
brother,  and  honour  him.  I  am  always  anxious  and  active  to  establish  unity 
in  the  apostolic  community. 

Keshub  now  wanted  that  the  man  of  the  New 
Dispensation  should  mould  his  daily  life,  perform  all 
domestic  and  social  duties,  and  regulate  his  dealings 
with  his  parents,  wife,  children,  brothers  and  sisters, 
masters  and  servants  according  to  a  definite  code  of 
laws. 

The  subjects  of  this  Code  were  headed  as  follows  : — 
House  and  House  keeping.  The  householder's  daily 
duties : — Leaving  the  bed.  Daily  meals.  Business. 
Amusements.  Studies.  Charities.  Domestic  relations. 
Servants.  Domestic  ceremonies.  Vows  : — Virginity. 
Widowhood.  Apostolic  Life.  Conquest  of  Passions. 
We  give  below  a  short  digest  of  the  various  rules. 

The  first  is  about  the  believer's  house.  The  house  shall  be  kept  clean,  and 
every  room,  every  part  of  it,  equally  attended  to.  The  laws  of  health  and 
sanitation  are  the  laws  of  God.  Not  only  the  cleanliness,  but  the  beauty 
of  the  house  shall  be  looked  to.  Fresh  flowers  and  leaves  shall  be  freely 
used  to  adorn  it  and  fill  it  with  perfume.  In  the  house  a  room  shall  be 
always  set  apart  as  the  domestic  sanctuary,  in  which  all  the  articles  and 
ornaments  used  during  worship,  should  be  kept  clean,  but  no  idolatrous 
symbol  of  any  kind  should  be  permitted.  Suitable  mottos  might  decorate 
the  walls.  The  householder  shall  rise  early,  sleeping  seven  hours.  His  first 
act  shall  be  to  praise  and  thank  God.  He  shall  then  take  some  bodily  exer- 
cise, glance  at  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  and  transact  such  business  as 
demands  immediate  attention.  He  is  to  bathe  in  clean  water,  and  during  the 
bath  shall  remember  that  this  act  of  washing  is  sacred,  and  "  behold  God  in 
the   shining  waters,    who  purifieth    both  the  body  and  the  mind."     He  shall 

59 


466  LIFE   OF   KESHUR   CHUNDER   SEN. 

remember  Christ's  Baptism  at  the  time.  Having  bathed  and  put  on  clean 
clothing,  the  householder  shall  enter  the  domestic  sanctuary,  and  there  sit  on 
his  own  appointed  carpet  or  seat.  These  seats  shall  be  assigned  to  each, 
and  there  shall  be  no  disorder  allowed  about  them.  Divine  service  shall  then 
take  place  in  due  order.  The  chief  prayers  must  be  fresh  every  day,  and 
those  avIio  pray  must  remember  that  they  are  not  only  to  speak  to  the  Lord 
but  wait  for  His  answer,  because  He  responds  to  every  sincere  petition. 
After  his  devotions  the  householder  is  to  take  his  meals.  This  is  not  to  be 
done  in  a  thoughtless,  carnal  manner,  but  in  a  spiritual  mood  of  mind.  As 
the  bath  reminds  him  of  sacred  baptism,  the  meal  should  remind  him  of  the 
holy  Eucharist.  He  must  say  grace  before  the  food  is  taken,  and  behold 
God  as  a  nourishing  Force  in  the  food.  The  food  should  be  simple  and 
economical,  no  wine  is  to  be  drunk,  and  meat  should  be  abstained  from  by 
those  who  have  taken  the  vow  of  poverty  and  self-denial.  .  The  lady  of  the 
house  shall  direct  what  food  is  to  be  prepared,  and  the  family  physician  order 
its  kind  and  quality.  During  the  meals  there  should  be  no  moroseness,  but 
the  householder  shall  be  cheerful,  talking  and  smiling  in  good  humour.  After 
his  meals  the  householder  shall  proceed  to  his  daily  business  with  strict 
punctuality.  But  before  he  begins  his  work  he  shall  cast  himself  upon  the 
mercy  and  guidance  of  God.  Whether  in  the  shop,  or  bank,  or  court,  or 
council  chamber,  he  must  remember  that  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  him, 
and  that  the  place  of  business  as  well  as  the  instruments  of  the  work  are 
sacred.  He  shall  work  diligently  and  faithfully,  and  not  by  fits  and  starts, 
preserving  the  equanimity  and  cheerfulness  of  his  spirits  amidst  the  worry 
and  vexations  of  daily  toil.  If  his  passions  are  excited,  he  shall  utter 
ejaculatory  prayers  entreating  God  to  deliver  him.  He  shall  remember  that 
true  labour  is  true  worship.  The  householder  after  his  daily  work  shall  seek 
amusement.  He  shall  work  and  seek  relaxation,  never  sacrificing  one  to  the 
other,  because  both  are  from  God.  Harmless  sports  and  games  are  good, 
but  the  highest  and  purest  enjoyment  is  music,  which  shall  be  treated  with 
honour.  The  householder  shall  devote  some  of  his  time  to  study  books,  but 
avoid  vain  and  unprofitable  reading.  He  shall  keep  a  library  of  choice  books 
in  his  house.  The  reading  should  be  moderate,  not  excessive,  and  what  is 
read  should  be  digested  and  assimilated.  Books  of  fiction  should  not  be  read 
too  much,  filthy  books  not  at  all,  and  atheistic  books  should  be  regarded 
with  abomination.  All  scriptures  are  to  be  read  with  unsectarian  reverence. 
The  householder  must  spend  some  of  his    income,   however  small,    in   giving 


NAVA   SAMHltA,   OR  THE  LAWS   OF  LIFE.  467 

chanties.     He   must   honour   the  poor  and  needy,  and  count  it  a  privilege  to 
give.     Chanty  should  not  be  fitful,  but  a  regular  domestic  institution.     When 
the  householder  buys  his  monthly  provisions,  a  part  of  them  shall  be  set  apart 
for  the  poor,  and  old  clothes  and  things  should  be  also  laid  aside  for  the  same 
purpose.     Grants   shall   be  made  to  charitable  societies  and  if  a  man's  means 
become  straitened  he  has  no  right  to  deprive   the  poor.     Charity  should  be 
varied  thus  : — To  feed  the  hungry,  to  give  water  to  the  thirsty,  to  clothe  the 
naked,  to  nurse  the  sick,  to  build  houses  for  the  homeless,   to  console    the 
bereaved,  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  to  assist  the 
indigent  student  with  books,  to  help  the  establishment  and   maintenance  of 
hospitals,  schools,  and  churches,  these  are  ordinary  works  of  charity  to  which 
thou  shalt  apply  thy  heart  and  energy  and  substance  whensoever  occassion 
arises.     Besides  all  this,  when  famines,  or  epidemics  break  out,  the  householder 
shall  render  aid.     In  hot  months   he  shall   give  cooling   drinks,    and  in   the 
cold   months   warm   clothing.     But    the   householder   shall    take  care  not  to 
encourage  idleness   and   pauperism,    and   give   his  charities   as  privately   as 
possible,    for  true   charity,   he  should   remember,    is  not  of  the  hand,  but  of 
the  heart.     Domestic  relationships  are  all  to  be  held  as  very   sacred,    and   the 
home  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  abode  of  the  Lord.     Children  shall  obey  their 
parents,  and  labour  with  body   and   mind   to   do    their   filial   duty.     Parents 
shall   train  up    their  children  in  a  simple  and  natural  manner,  without  being 
too  meddlesome.     Hard  theology  should  not  be  forced  into   the  minds  of 
the   young,   but   moral  training  should  be  given  them  in  early  age.     Both  the 
father  and  the  mother  have  their  respective  parts  in  the  training  of  the   child, 
in  order   that  its  education  may  be  complete.     Develop  in  the  young  a  taste 
for  the  poetry  and  beauty  of  nature,  and  cultivate  in  them  a  love   of  flowers. 
If  there  is  a  garden  attached  to  the  house  let  them  go  about  looking  at  plants 
and  flowers,  and  let  them   also  take   part  in   gardening.     And   if  there   are 
domesticated  animals   and  birds   in  the  house,  let  the  children  be  taught  to 
treat  them  kindly,  to  feed  them,  and  caress  them. 

Brothers  and  sisters  should  love  each  other  warmly.  When  they  many 
and  separate,  they  shall  continue  to  be  loving,  and  must  not  cast  away  their 
brother  and  sister  to  please  a  husband  or  a  wife.  Matrimony  is  a  divine 
institution,  and  ought  to  be  honoured  as  such.  Husband  and  wife  are  equal, 
and  let  them  not  raise  questions  of  the  superiority  of  sex.  Let  no  one  try 
to  enslave  the  other,  but  let  both  do  their  appointed  work.  Domestic  un- 
faithfulness  is   the    greatest    sin.     The   husband  and  the  wife  shall  love  each 


468  LIFE   Of   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

other  passionately,  and  inasmuch  as  true  wedlock  is  the  union  of  souls,  let 
them  be  more  and  more  fully  married  throughout  their  lives.  The  house- 
holder shall  treat  his  servants  tenderly,  and  attend  to  their  wants,  as  children 
entrusted  to  their  care.  The  wages  must  be  paid  to  them  regularly,  and  they 
must  not  be  overworked.  They  should  not  be  tempted  by  carelessness  and 
extravagance  on  the  part  of  the  master.  They  may  be  punished  when 
undutiful,  but  should  be  rewarded  if  they  have  done  well,  and  strict  morality 
enforced  among  them.  The  householder  shall  perform  domestic  ceremonies, 
but  must  not  place  too  much  importance  upon  pompous  symbolism.  When 
a  child  is  born  there  shall  be  rejoicing  in  the  house,  and  thanksgiving  unto 
God  before  the  family  altar.  This  is  the  Jatkarma  ceremony.  The  next  is 
Xamkanui,  or  the  giving  of  name  to  the  child.  The  child  should  be  bathed, 
ornamented  with  crushed  sandal  and  flowers,  and  dressed  in  new  clothes. 
The  father  shall  pray  for  its  welfare,  and  then  the  presiding  minister  shall 
take  it  in  his  arms,  and  pronounce  prayer  and  benediction.  The  mother  and 
female  relatives  shall  afterwards  put  a  little  food  into  the  mouth  of  the  child 
and  friends  and  acquaintances  make  presents,  and  give  blessings.  When  the 
boy  or  girl  will  have  sufficiently  grown,  and  been  educated,  they  shall  be 
brought  before  the  religious  preceptor,  and  go  through  the  ceremony  of 
initiation.  This  is  called  Dikhsha.  This  is  to  be  followed  by  the  marriage 
ceremony,  the  particular  rites  of  which  have  been  often  published.  The 
funeral  ceremonies  should  be  performed  with  due  solemnity.  Hymns,  prayers, 
and  God's  names  shall  be  chanted  on  the  death-bed.  When  life  is  extinct, 
the  body  should  be  washed  and  arranged,  mourning  friends  and  relatives 
should  accompany  it  to  the  place  of  cremation.  After  it  has  been  fully  con- 
sumed, the  ashes  should  be  taken  home,  deposited  in  a  vessel,  and  buried. 
When  the  period  of  mourning,  extending  at  least  over  seven  days,  is  over, 
the  Shradha  (doing  honor  to  the  dead)  ceremony  shall  be  performed  with 
prayers,  and  hymns,  and  on  the  occasion  charities  should  be  given  to  various 
worthy  objects.  Besides  these  ceremonies  it  is  also  prescribed  that  certain 
vows  should  be  taken,  such  as  the  vow  of  the  conquest  of  passions ;  the 
vow  of  celibacy  ;  the  vow  of  widowhood  ;  and  the  vow  of  apostolic  life  ; 
the  vow  of  devotees  ;  and  the  vow  of  ascetic  householders. 

Keshub  anticipated  that  this  New  Samhita  would  be 
the  cause  of  fresh  divisions  among'  his  disciples.  They 
would  differ  in  their  interpretation  of  the  spirit  and  the 


AUTHORITY   OF   THE  NAVA   SAMHITA.  469 

authority  of  the  laws  he  gave.  So  while  he  fully 
demanded  the  adoption  of  the  Samhita  on  the  part  of 
the  believers  of  the  New  Dispensation,  he  was  careful 
to  explain  the  nature  of  its  application  and  authority. 
Hence  before  the  code  was  published  he  wrote:  "  The 
New  Samhita  will  be  shortly  ready,  and  a  day  ought  to 
be  appointed  for  its  formal  promulgation  among  our 
people, — a  day  that  will  close  the  epoch  of  anarchy, 
self-will,  and  lawlessness,  and  usher  in  the  kingdom  of 
law,  and  discipline,  and  harmony.  All  our  Churches  in 
the  metropolis  and  the  provinces,  and  all  individuals 
professing  loyalty  to  the  divine  Dispensation,  ought  to 
acknowledge  and  accept  the  Law  on  that  occasion,  for 
their  own  guidance,  and  the  regulation  of  all  their  social 
and  domestic  concerns.  Let  not,  however,  the  Samhita 
be  a  new  fetish.  It  is  no  infallible  gospel  :  it  is  not  our 
holy  scripture.  It  is  only  the  national  Law  of  the 
Aryans  of  the  New  Church  in  India,  in  which  is 
embodied  the  spirit  of  the  New  Faith  in  its  application 
to  social  life.  It  contains  the  essence  of  God's  moral 
law  adapted  to  the  peculiar  needs  and  character  of 
reformed  Hindus,  and  based  upon  their  national  instincts 
and  traditions.  It  is  essentially,  not  literally,  Heaven's 
holy  Injunction  unto  us  of  the  New  Church  in  India. 
We  shall  not,  therefore,  bow  to  its  letter,  but  accept  its 
spirit  and  its  essence  for  our  guidance."* 

Till  the  commencement  of  the  rainy  season  he  was 
comparatively   well  at  Simla.     His  chronic  complaint, 

*  It  is  singular  that  those  who  published  the  New  Samhita  after  Keshub's 
death,  and  insisted  upon  its  authority,  omitted  this  most  important  explanation. 


470  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

vertigo  and  pain  in  the  head  had  been  nearly  cured  by 
the  coolness  of  the  Himalayan  breeze,  but  he  was  steadi- 
ly losing  flesh.  The  diabetic  symptoms  had  not  at  all 
abated,  yet  his  brains  were  so  clear  that  he  rose  early 
every  morning,  and  for  nearly  three  hours  dictated  to 
his  son,  who  thus  took  down  large  portions  of  two  last 
publications  the  Nava  Samhita  and  the  Yoga.  But  for 
the  rest  of  the  day  he  could  not  do  any  head-work,  and 
mostly  engaged  himself  in  turning  out  little  articles  of 
carpentry,  most  neatly  executed,  and  preserved  in  his 
household  as  specimens  of  his  remarkable  skill  in  manual 
and  mechanical  work.  As  the  rains  set  in,  he  began  to 
grow  worse,  till  in  August,  vertigo,  nausea,  fever, 
cough,  nervous  debility,  and  various  complications 
returned  with  severity.  All  mental  work  had  to  be  dis 
continued,  and  though  advised  by  medical  men  to  stop 
at  Simla  till  October,  he  had  to  leave  in  the  middle  of 
September,  for  fear  he  should  not  have  the  strength  to 
attempt  the  homeward  journey  at  all  if  he  remained 
later  on.  There  were  external  causes  which  aggrava- 
ted his  illness.  One  of  these  causes  was  the  growing 
disunion  and  worldliness  of  his  apostles,  and  hence 
the  declining  prospects  of  his  cause.  In  the  midst  of 
all  his  absorbing  devotions  and  spiritual  labour,  that 
thought  visited  him,  and  filled  him  with  deep  despon- 
dency. To  his  companions  at  the  time  he  spoke  most 
openly  of  his  apprehensions,  and  expressed  his  views 
almost  about  each  one  of  his  missionaries.  He  felt 
he  was  discarded  from  Calcutta,  he  wrote  bitterly  on 
the    subject   to    his    brother    and    others,    he    gave    out 


MISGIVING    AND   DESPONDENCY.  471 

a  wish  that  if  he  got  well  to  live  permanently  on  the 
hills.  Some  of  the  prayers  he  published  are  unmistak- 
able, and  piercing  in  their  sadness.  The  following 
appeared  in  the  New  Dispensation  paper  for  July  29th  : 

Shall  I  regard   my  life  and   my   mission  as  a  failure  ?  Tell  me,  my  God. 
Comfort  me  with  Thine  assurance  that  there  is   still  some  hope,   and   that  I 
may  yet  achieve  some  success.     Great  God,  for  many  long  years  Thy  servant 
has  toiled  and  labored,  in  diverse  ways  and  in  various  fields,    to  establish   the 
kingdom  of  love  and  forgiveness  among  Thy  people.     I  have  tried  humbly 
to  preach  the  great  doctrine  of  forgiveness  which  Thou    hast   taught  me  and 
impressed  upon  me,  and  to   diffuse  far  and  wide  the  principles  of  peace  on 
earth  and  goodwill  among  men.     I  have  labored   practically  to   bring  the 
angry,    the  vindictive,    the  fretful,    the   quarrelsome,    the  impatient  and  the 
vengeful  into  the  paths  of  peace.     In  Thy  strength  and  under  Thy  command 
I  have   struggled  constantly  to  pour  oil  over  troubled  waters  and  to  reconcile 
differences.     But  in  vain.     The  deep  anguish   of  my  heart  I  have   not  con- 
cealed from   Thee,   and    often  and   often  have    I  opened  my  heart  in  prayer 
unto  Thee.     The  angry  quarrels  of  those  around  me  have  pierced    my  heart 
and  made  it   bleed  profusely,    and    the   multitudinous   instances  of  revenge 
which  I  daily  see  before  me  torment  my  very   bones.     And   I  cry  unto  Thee 
day  and   night  and  find  no  rest.     When  will  all  this  strife  and  contention  in 
Thy  household  cease  ?  When  will  my  friends  learn  to  love  the  enemy  ?  When, 
O  God,  will  the  lion  and  the  deer  dwell  in  peace  ?    Forgiveness  these  people 
will  not  learn ;  it   is  to    them  an   abomination.     Nay  they   proudly  rejoice 
in    oppressing    and    tormenting   and   reviling   their   brothers   for   the   least 
provocation   that   cometh   from    them   in   returning   evil  for  evil,  and  in  per- 
secuting  their   opponents.      Break   and  soften   the   proud   hearts    of  these 
people,    O  God  of   love,    and   teach  them   to   forgive   those   that   trespass 
against    them,   if  they    seek    Thy    forgiveness  for  their   trespasses    against 
Thee.     Where  would  we  be,   my   God,    if  we  had  no  assurance  of  Thy  for- 
giving mercy  ?     Father,  teach  this  generation  love,  and  kindness,  and  forgive- 
ness, and  graciously  grant  that  I  may  ere  long  see  a  joyous  band  of  forgiving 
souls  in  whom  pride  and  anger  have  become  impossible. 

Broken   in  health,    despondent  in  spirit,  but  with  in- 
finite trust  and   love  in  the  goodness  of  God,  Keshub 


472  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDE'R   SEX. 

returned  to  Calcutta  towards  the  end  of  October.  Men 
had  disappointed  him,  but  God  had  blessed  him  be- 
yond measure  with  spiritual  insight  and  joy.  Therefore 
physically  weak  as  he  was,  his  mind  was  restless  in 
devising  new  means  to  glorify  his  Father.  For  a  long 
time  it  was  in  his  mind  to  establish  a  domestic  sanc- 
tuary in  Lily  Cottage,  where  the  male  and  female 
devotees  of  the  neighbourhood  might  daily  congregate 
for  such  true  loving  worship  as  he  had  held  with  them 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  Hitherto  he  had  devo- 
ted one  of  the  best  rooms  in  his  residence  to  that 
purpose,  but  he  now  wanted  to  raise  a  separate  struc- 
ture for  the  glorification  of  God  in  his  household. 
He  had  a  double  purpose  in  this.  He  wished  to  make 
divine  service  a  daily  usage  in  his  family,  and  he 
wished  also  to  provide  a  refuge  for  the  souls  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood,  the  missionaries  and 
their  families.  Probably  he  also  stood  in  need  of  an 
agreeable  and  profitable  diversion  to  counteract  the 
unwholesome  effects  produced  in  his  mind  by  the 
present  disordered  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Church. 
But  he  had  no  money,  and  feared  he  might  not  find  the 
co-operation  he  wanted.  But  difficulties  of  this  kind 
had  never  daunted  him  before,  and  never  depressed 
him  now.  One  day  in  the  beginning  of  November,  as 
he  was  feebly  walking  in  the  garden,  he  ordered  some 
workmen  to  be  called,  and  directed  them  to  demolish 
one  side  of  the  extensive  brick  enclosures  of  Lily 
Cottage.  His  friends  were  surprised,  and  did  not  under- 
stand what  this  could  mean.     The  process  of  destruction 


ERECTION  OF  THE  NEW   SANCTUARY.  473 

disengaged  a  large  quantity  of  bricks,  and  other 
building  materials  ;  with  these  he  at  once  set  about  to 
erect  the  New  Sanctuary  or  Nava  Devalaya.  To  the 
east  of  his  house,  just  skirting  Upper  Circular  Road, 
there  was  a  fine  open  plot  of  ground  belonging  to  him- 
self, and  this  he  had  long  selected  in  his  mind  as  the 
site.  Whenever  Keshub  began  any  work  of  this  kind, 
he  was  impatient  to  see  it  coiUpleted.  He  never  gave 
any  rest  to  the  engineers,  or  workmen,  and  never  gave 
any  rest  to  himself.  Now  this  impetuosity  wTas  redoub- 
led by  the  secret  consciousness  that  the  building  of  the 
New  Sanctuary  was  to  be  the  last  act  of  his  life.  The 
foundation  was  laid  on  the  8th  November,  and  on  this 
occasion  he  made  each  one  of  the  apostles  to  put  in 
some  brick  and  mortar,  emblematic  of  the  spirit  and 
management  of  the  edifice.  When  everybody  else  was 
full  of  anxiety  about  his  health,  and  expressed  great 
fears,  Keshub  never  allowed  the  remotest  expression  to 
escape  him  about  the  nature  of  the  termination  of  his  ill- 
ness, though  in  his  own  mind  he  had  not  the  shadow  of 
a  doubt  on  that  subject.  But  all  through  this  period  he 
worked  with  accelerated  speed,  as  if  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  his  family  and  friends  from  the  inevitable.  He 
had  finished  his  devotional  philosophy  by  the  composition 
of  "  Yoga,  Subjective  and  Objective."  He  had  finished 
the  composition  of  the  "  New  Samhita."  And  now  he 
was  exceedingly  anxious  to  complete  the  erection  of  a 
tabernacle,  which,  for  his  own  family,  and  for  his 
neighbours,  he  wanted  to  be  the  Household  of  God. 
He  begged  his  engineer  friends  to  decide  about  their 
60 


474  LIFE    0F    KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

plans  at  once;  he  entreated  Bhai  Amrita  Lai  Bose,  who 
had  superintended  the  building  of  the  Brahma  Mandir, 
to  finish  the  work.  In  the  enforced  idleness  of 
disease  he  sat  almost  the  whole  day  near  his  window 
watching  the  progress  of  the  workmen. 

For  about  a  month  and  half  after  his  return  he  showed 
some  symptoms  of  improvement,  but  as  the  cold  weather 
set  in,  he  grew  speedily  worse.  Many  doctors  were 
engaged,  many  kinds  of  treatment  were  attempted. 
Allopaths  and  homoeopaths  tried  their  skill  in  succes- 
sion ;  the  practitioners  of  orthodox  Hindu  medicine 
were  sometimes  called  in  ;  Mahamedan  Hakeems  had 
given  him  their  drugs.  For  a  week  or  two  he  seemed  to 
rally,  then  again  came  a  relapse.  The  latter  end  of 
November,  and  the  whole  of  December  was  spent  in  a 
continuous  struggle  between  life  and  death.  The  com- 
plaint that  in  the  midst  of  the  growing  debility  gained 
upon  him  was  a  fearful  and  unaccountable  pain  about  the 
loins,  but  every  organ  seemed  more  or  less  diseased. 
Amidst  the  respites  of  the  pain  he  engaged  himself  in 
correcting  the  proof  sheets  of  the  New  Samhita  and  Yoga 
which  were  in  the  press  ;  in  giving  directions  about  the 
New  Sanctuary  which  was  being  built  ;  and  in  making 
plans  for  a  Fancy  Bazar  (Ananda  Bazar)  which  he 
wished  to  be  held  during  the  next  anniversary. 

Toward  the  latter  stages  of  his  fatal  illness,  only  a 
few  weeks  before  the  melancholy  end,  he  was  also 
anxious  that  a  complete  report  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
of  India,  during  the  whole  period  of  his  connection 
with    it   should    be  written,  showing  both  the  successes 


SHORTCOMINGS   AND   FAILURES.  475 

and  failures  of  that  movement.     He   specially  directed 
his   cousin   Joykrishna  Sen,  M.  A.  to  write  this  report, 
and  gave   him    to  understand  that  after  mentioning  the 
facts  of  progress,  he  should  dovote  a  chapter  to  describe 
"  Our  Shortcomings  and  Failures/'     The  writer  of  the 
report   in  a  preliminary  letter  says  : — "  The  chapter  on 
"  Our  Shortcomings  and  Failures"  he  particularly  wished 
me   to   write.     He  was  too  ill  at  the  time,  but  notwith- 
standing his  illness  which  prevented  his  speaking  to  me, 
he  wrote  down  the  points  on  which   he  wanted  me  to 
write."     What   then  were  these  points  ?  The  first  failure 
enumerated  was  the  decline   of  Asceticism    among   the 
Brahmo   missionaries.      His    missionaries     showed   no 
change  of  outward  life.    They  did  not  enter  into  worldly 
avocations,  they  were  still  as  poor  and  simple   in   their 
daily  habits  as  before.     Perhaps  their  wants  were  more 
grievous  now  than  before  owing  to   the   inadequacy    of 
public  support.     Many  of  them  still   cooked   their  own 
food,   and   ate  it   under  the  trees  at  Lily  Cottage.     The 
Mission  Office  doled  out  to  them  their  daily  supplies  out 
of  its   scanty   funds.      Outwardly    poverty,    simplicity, 
suffering    were   the   characteristics   of    the   missionary 
body.     Why  then  did  the  leader   say   that   asceticism 
had  failed  ?  In  his  estimation  these  outer  manifestations 
of  ascetic  life  had   very   little   value.     He   knew   that 
nearly   amongst  all  Hindu  denominations  habits  and 
self-sacrifices   of   very   much   greater    rigor   prevailed, 
without  there  being  the  apostolical  virtue  he  demanded. 
He  wanted  that  "  we  should  become  ascetics  in  spirit." 
In  outward  acts  and  words  there  was   some   strictness, 


476  LIFE  OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

"  but  the  thoughts  and  ideas  were  not  altogether  pure. 
As  we  pass  in  review  our  daily  experiences,  we  find  we 
still  yield  to  temptations  and  allurements,  we  still 
allow  our  hands  and  hearts  to  be  polluted  by  the  touch 
of  the  world."  Keshub's  standard  of  asceticism  then 
was  not  merely  the  display  of  rigor  in  diet  and  dress, 
an  austere  face,  and  an  indigent  exterior  ;  it  was  utter 
unworldliness  of  spirit,  the  absolute  conquest  of  car- 
nality, the  perfect  purity  of  thought  and  idea.  And 
what  religious  man  is  there  in  any  denomination  who 
will  not  pay  homage  to  such  a  standard  r  A  failure 
here  was  a  serious  disappointment  indeed. 

The  second  failure  noticed  is  still  more  serious,  it  is 
the  decline  of  inspiration.  This  again  is  another  cha- 
racteristic doctrine  of  the  religious  dispensation  pro- 
pounded by  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  The  nature  of  the 
shortcoming  is  thus  explained — "  There  is  greater 
respect  paid  now  to  reason  and  self  than  to  conscience 
and  God.  Instead  of  the  impulses  and  injunctions 
received  through  their  soul,  the  missionaries  pay 
greater  heed  to  the  dictates  ot  reason,  and  the  com- 
mands of  authority."  Again,  it  is  said  "  in  a  Church 
which  acknowledges  no  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  which  preaches  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  and  Bro- 
therhood of  man,  which  claims  to  receive  inspiration 
from  the  Spirit  of  all  truth  in  all  it  does,  it  would  be  in 
the  highest  degree  improper  if  individual  men  allowed 
themselves  to  be  guided  by  a  Pope  in  matters  of  faith." 
u  Therefore  it  must  be  checked  at  once,  and  mission- 
aries must  learn  that  they  are   to   rely   for   their   salva- 


DECLINE  OF  INSPIRATION.  477 

tion  upon  the  merits  of  no  saint  or  saviour,  but  upon 
Divine  mercy  alone.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  sole 
authority,  and  to  Him  are  all  references  to  be  made, 
and  by  Him  are  they  to  be  guided  in  their  journey 
through  life." 

The  shortcoming  indicated  here  points  out  a  twofold 
evil.  Firstly,  the  Brahmo  missionaries  have  suffered 
a  loss  of  spirit  in  receiving  fewer  impulses  than  before  in 
their  progress  to  piety  and  righteousness.  And  second- 
ly, they  have  acquired  the  habit  of  being  unduly  and 
alarmingly  subservient  to  "  Authority,"  to  the  dictates 
of  "  a  Pope."  The  first  part  of  the  accusation  is  in- 
telligible enough.  But  what  does  the  second  part 
mean  ?  Whose  authority  is  alluded  to  ?  What  "  human 
commands,"  and  what  sort  of  "  Pope "  guided  the 
missionaries  in  matters  of  faith  ?  It  is  a  notorious  fact 
that  their  mutual  reverence,  then  as  now,  is  of  the 
meagrest  description.  It  is  equally  well  known  they 
have  cared  very  little  for  what  the  public  thought  of 
them.  Whose  authority  kept  them  back  then  from  the 
ideal  of  apostolical  life  r  The  truth  cannot  be  disguised 
that  Keshub  towards  the  end  of  his  life  bitterly  felt 
that  his  intimate  disciples  set  up  his  authority  as  a 
barrier  between  the  Holy  Spirit  and  their  own  souls. 
He  was  put  on  the  pedestal  of  a  Pope,  whose  "  human 
commands "  took  the  place  of  "  the  impulses  and  in- 
junctions that  come  through  the  soul."  His  repeated 
warnings  and  counsels  to  ward  off  this  evil  had  failed. 
His  self-humiliations,  and  public  confessions  of  sinful- 
ness   produced    no   effect,   human    nature   repeated   its 


478  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

old  weakness  "  of  relying  upon  the  merits  of  a  saint 
or  a  saviour."  For  a  long  time  Keshub  had  comforted 
himself  with  the  thought  that  the  great  reliance  placed 
upon  his  personal  authority  would  put  in  his  hands 
some  day  the  power  of  exalting  the  tendency  of 
dependence  upon  man  into  absolute  dependence  upon 
God.  If  they  obeyed  him  in  everything,  why  should 
they  not  obey  him  when  he  declared  that  he  was 
nothing,  and  God  was  all  in  all  ?  But  here  he  failed. 
Long  had  the  critics  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj  of  India 
accused  its  missionaries  of  subservience  to  the  authority 
of  one  man.  Keshub  never  wanted  this  subservience, 
but  he  secretly  felt  it  was  there,  and  he  inwardly  deter- 
mined to  cure  the  evil  by  elevating  this  subservience 
from  man  to  God.  It  was  a  grievous  disappointment  to 
him  to  fail  in  this,  and  to  confirm  the  accusation  laid 
against  his  own  Church.  He  had  sufficiently  exonera- 
ted himself  from  all  complicity  with  the  evil.  He 
had  always  warned  his  Church,  and  when  his  warning 
was  unheeded,  he  denounced  the  evil  unmistakably, 
though  the  denunciation  laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the 
peculiar  relationship  in  which  some  of  his  followers 
held  him.  Thus  with  his  last  breath  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  disclaimed  personal  pretensions  as  a  mediator  or  a 
Pope,  and  gave  all  authority,  all  power,  all  glory  to  God 
alone.* 

The  third  shortcoming  pointed  out  is  "  the  decay  of 
brotherhood  and  mutual  forgiveness,"  and  the  growth 
of  "  proud  selfish  individuality."     Time  has  fully  proved 

*  Sec  p.  317. 


DECLINE  OF  BROTHERLY   SPIRIT.  479 

what  this  meant.     The  spirit  of  fault-finding  and  mutual 
recrimination,  to  which  allusion  has  been  often  made, 
was   mistaken  at  first  as  honest  manly  criticism,  which 
would  tend  to   the  correction   of  shortcomings  in   the 
apostolic  body.     But  it  was  not  criticism  whose  basis 
was  love ;  it  was  the  intolerance  of  religious   pride,    it 
was  the   venom  of  strong  deep   mutual   dislike.     The 
leader,  in  whom  every  one  professed  to  have  confidence 
and  love,  strained  his   utmost  influence  to  put  a  stop 
to  it  when  he  perceived  the  dangerous  consequences  it 
threatened.     But  he  entirely  failed.     The  failure  preyed 
upon    his    spirits,    and   produced   disappointment    and 
despondency,  which  aggravated  the  effects   of  the  fatal 
illness  he  was  suffering  from.     Yet  all  to  no  effect.     His 
published  prayers  on  this    subject   were   heart-rending, 
his  private  letters  full  of  the  most  bitter  lamentations. 
And  what  was  worst   of  all,   he   suspected     that    the 
mutual    disesteem    extended    in    some    cases    to    his 
own     character.      The  apostolical  organization   of  the 
Brahmo  Somaj   was  based  on  the  principle  of  mutual 
love  and  good  will.     A  failure  here  meant  very  nearly 
the  failure  of  Keshub's  principal  life-work,   yet  such  a 
failure  he  caused  to  be  recorded  in  the  last  official  report 
written  by  his  direction. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen  was  the  apostle  of  harmony. 
Harmony  is  the  chief  character  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
the  harmony  of  spiritual  culture.  And  the  want  of  this 
harmony  of  character  is  the  last  shortcoming  pointed 
out  by  the  Minister.  "  Our  life  and  character  present 
a  strange  absence  of  harmony.     We  are  sorry    we   do 


480  LIFE   OF  KESHUB  CHUNDER    SEN. 

not  find  a  proper  culture  of  the  several  elements 
amongst  us.  The  character  of  most  is  ill-regulated, 
and  instead  of  being  steady  in  the  exercise  of  devotion 
and  duty,  it  performs  the  one  at  the  expense  of  the 
other/' 

In  estimating  the  success  of  his  work  the  truth 
cannot  be  hidden  that  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  tried 
to  do  too  much  in  his  latter  days,  and  it  is  not  in 
nature  for  one  man  to  achieve  success  in  all  that  he 
attempted  within  the  course  of  a  single  lifetime.  He 
laid  down  grand  ideals  of  moral  and  spiritual  character. 
He  formed  plans  of  social  and  practical  reform  in  every 
department  of  personal  and  national  life.  He  aimed 
at  the  formation  of  a  Universal  Church.  In  the  singu- 
larity of  his  genius,  and  in  his  unexampled  self-devo- 
ted ness,  he  was  himself  faithful  to  those  ideals  till  his 
last  moment.  The  success  of  which  he  speaks  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  the  Jeevari  Ved>  relates  to  the  imme- 
diate effects  of  this  enthusiastic  self-consecration.  The 
effects  were  brilliant  and  unmistakable.  But  he  could 
not  make  these  effects  real  in  others.  He  was  the 
truest  and  noblest  result  of  his  own  religion.  Outside 
himself  the  result  was  disappointing.  But  in  his 
writings  and  character  he  has  left  influences  which 
shall  undoubtedly  mould  the  future  of  his  nation, 
and  the  faith  he  came  to  establish.  Well  may  we 
believe  that  his  standards  were  so  exalted,  his  doctrines 
were  so  universal,  that  it  was  not  possible  for  his 
associates  to  comprehend  them,  far  less  to  live  up  to 
them.     Well   may  we  believe   that  it  will  take  genera- 


THE   PRACTICE  OF  YOGA.  48 1 

tions  to  carry  them  out  in  their  fulness.  But  the  stern 
fact  remains  that  his  Church  has  so  far  failed  to  be 
faithful  to  his  ideals.  We  trust  and  pray  that  the 
God  of  the  New  Dispensation  may  yet  open  the  eyes 
of  its  chief  representatives  to  follow  the  example  set 
by  their  Minister,  and  rescue  from  impending  ruin 
the  cause  for  which  he  laboured,  lived,  and  died. 

In  the  prostration  of  his  disease  Keshub  was  keenly 
sensitive  to  this  downward  course  of  things,  and 
how  did  he  shake  off  the  painful  and  desponding 
thoughts  ?  By  an  intense  form  of  spiritual  exercise. 
For  some  time  past  he  had  given  special  attention 
to  the  practice  of  Yoga.  It  was  absorbed  com- 
munion with  the  spirit  of  God.  While  at  Simla  he 
spent  much  time  in  this  kind  of  devotion.  Whenever 
he  visited  the  hills  on  former  occasions  he  assidu- 
ously cultivated  the  habit.  This  time  at  Simla  the 
absorption  took  the  form  of  ecstacy.  The  conscious 
presence  of  a  Supreme  Loving  Personality  enraptured 
him.  He  cried,  he  laughed  violently ;  he  talked  voci- 
ferously ;  he  poured  out  all  his  troubles  into  the  bosom 
of  this  Pitying  Presence.  His  friends  and  relatives 
were  alarmed  at  these  strange  excitements.  But  he 
steadily  persevered  in  the  practice,  and  resorted  to 
it  as  the  chief  consolation  in  his  physical  and  mental 
sufferings.  Lest  any  one  should  misunderstand  the 
nature  of  this  Yoga  exercise,  he  wrote  towards 
the  latter  part  of  his  sojourn  on  the  Himalayas  a 
series  of  elaborate  essays  on  the  subject,  and  sent 
them  for  publication  to  the  New  York  Independent  under 
61 


482  LIFE  OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

the  title  of  "  Yoga,  Subjective  and  Objective."  These 
have  been  subsequently  published  in  the  form  of  a  little 
book,  the  most  original  and  thoughtful  perhaps  of  all  his 
writings.  It  gives  a  lucid  exposition  of  the  whole 
philosophy  of  his  devotions. 

He  defines  Yoga  as  "  Communion  with  God,"  and 
explains  it  thus  : — 

The  created  soul,  in  its  worldly  and  sinful  condition,  lives  separate  and 
estranged  from  the  Supreme  Soul.  A  reconciliation  is  needed  ;  nay,  more 
than  a  mere  reconciliation.  A  harmonious  union  is  sought  and  realized.  This 
union  with  the  Deity  is  the  real  secret  of  Hindu  Yoga.  It  is  spiritual  unifica- 
tion ;  it  is  a  consciousness  of  two  in  one  ;  duality  in  unity. 

The  union  with  God  is  realized  in  three  different 
ways  ;  first  in  nature,  secondly  in  the  soul,  and  thirdly 
in  history. 

"  We  see  in  the  earliest,  or  Vedic  period,  communion  with  God  in  Nature  ; 
this  is  objective  yoga.  Then  we  have  in  the  Vedantic  period  communion 
with  God  in  the  soul ;  this  is  subjective  yoga.  Thirdly,  in  the  Puranic 
period  we  find  communion  with  God  in  History  or  with  the  God  of  Provi- 
dence ;  this  is  Bhakti,  or  Bhakti  yoga." 

"  The  soul  of  man,"  we  are  told  "  first  seeks  God  in 
Nature.  His  earliest  theology  is  the  knowledge  of 
Nature,  or  natural  theology.  His  earliest  devotion  is 
the  worship  of  Nature.  He  is  just  ushered  into  the 
physical  world,  and  he  is  at  once  struck  with  the 
wonders  of  creation.  Not  only  is  the  universe  grand 
and  beautiful.  .  .  .but  Nature  moves  and  lives,  and 
grows.  Hence  Nature  is  not  only  a  marvel,  but  a  deep 
Mystery.  Who  or  what  can  this  Great  Mystery  be 
that  moves  and  animates  the  universe  ?.  .  .  .He  worships 
anything  and  everything  that  excites  in   him   wonder, 


THE   PHILOSOPHY   OF   YOGA.  483 

reverence,  gratitude/'  "  This  instinctive  worship  of 
Nature"  says  he  "  is  neither  pantheism,  nor  polytheism, 
but  the  mere  worship  of  force." 

But  he  distinguishes  between  the  idea  of  force  as  set 
forth  by  modern  scientists,  and  as  found  in  the  Vedic 
times.  The  former  only  see  "  matter-force "  which 
leads  to  agnosticism  and  atheism,  but  "  the  Rishi 
recognized  a  personal  Force,"  not  as  a  conclusion  from 
a  premise,  but  from  "the  highest  causal  intuition, 
which  is  the  germ  of  scientific  yoga  vision." 

"  The  efficient  cause  is  also  a  personal  cause ;  so  says  the  intuitive  con- 
sciousness in  man  ;  the  two  are  apprehended  simultaneously — efficiency  and 
personality — in  one  and  the  same  act  of  cognitive  perception." 

He  explains  the  process  by  which  the  Hindu  devotee 
realizes  the  force  of  Personality  in  Nature.  With  his 
untutored,  yet  trained  eye,  he  saw  a  Person  behind  all 
the  wonders  and  beauties  of  creation,  and  therefore 
he  believed,  trusted,  loved  and  adored  all  at  once. 
"  He  clearly  saw  a  Person  where  others  see  dimly 
mere  force  enveloped  in  mists.  .  .  .Surely  this  is  yoga 
vision,  though  not  in  its  perfect  form.  It  is  more 
poetical  than  philosophical,  more  mystical  than  scienti- 
fic, more  a  matter  of  faith  than  of  reason  and  thought." 
He.  then  vindicates  such  vision  during  the  present 
times,  and  gives  an  analysis  of  his  own  feelings. 

"In  moments  of  devotional  excitement  and  profound  meditation,  men 
of  faith,  in  all  ages  and  climes,  vividly  realized  the  presence  of  God  in  the 
material  universe.  In  this  state  of  mind  they  stand  awe-struck,  and  over- 
powered by  a  peculiar  emotion  which  can  hardly  be  described,  before  the 
Spirit's  Presence  in  nature.  When  it  comes,  how  it  comes,  they  know  not. 
It  seems  to  be   a  mystery  of   faith,   but   it   is  a   fact,   nevertheless.     What 


484  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

happens  in  a  small  measure  to  ordinary  humanity  bursts  like  a  flood  of  light 
upon  great  geniuses.  It  is  the  same  thing,  only  in  astonishing  profusion. 
Two  instances,  exceptionally  striking,  will  suffice  for  illustration." 

He  then  illustrates  this  yoga  vision  from  the  in- 
stances of  Moses  and  Jesus  the  first  of  whom  perceived 
the  Divine  presence  in  the  burning  bush,  and  the  latter 
in  the  opening  heavens  and  descending  dove. 

"  To  see  in  an  instant  the  very  God  of  the  universe  in  a  flying  bird,  not 
only  as  an  inspiring  vital  force,  but  as  a  blazing  personal  Divinity,  is  a  feat  of 
spiritual  perception  to  which  only  the  Son  of  God  was  equal.  He  showed 
us  in  perfection  what  we  all  can,  but  imperfectly  achieve  with  our  little  eye  of 
faith." 

It  was  his  object  to  dissociate  the  practice  of  Yoga 
from  everything  local  or  accidental,  from  all  impure 
admixtures  of  polytheism  and  pantheism,  to  refine  and 
perfect  it  "  into  a  pure  theistic  and  universal  principle." 
He  therefore  gives  a  rationale  of  the  process  by  which 
the  transcendental  practice  ought  to  be  carried  on.  The 
devotee  stands  face  to  face  with  great  and  beautiful 
natural  objects.  "  The  force  that  bursts  upon  his  vision 
is  one  in  which  all  that  is  in  the  effect  is  summed  up  as 
in  the  primitive  cause, — power,  intelligence,  love  and 
beauty.  He  beholds  a  person  at  once  true,  good,  and 
beautiful.  He  sees  himself  and  the  universe,  the  me 
and  the  not  me,  living  and  moving  in  a  central  will- 
force,  in  an  intelligent  and  loving  personality.  And  as 
his  cognitive  faculties  apprehend  this  almighty,  all- 
wise,  and  all-good  Person,  his  heart  overflows  with 
emotions,  and  gratitude ;  trust,  reverence,  wonder, 
love,  joy  and  enthusiasm  all  surge  up  and  make  his 
vision    sweet    indeed.     All  this  takes   place   instantly. 


YOGA  ANALYZED.  485 

Faith,  intellect,  and  feeling  form  in  a  moment  one  eye, 
as  it  were,  and  the  observer  observes  with  scientific  accu- 
racy, with  firm  faith,  and  with  abounding  joy.  Such 
God-consciousness  grows  in  vividness  and  joy  as  the 
mind  is  more  concentrated  in  it,  till  it  becomes  quite 
absorbing.  All  the  massive  doors  of  the  universe  are 
now  flung  open.  All  objects,  animate  and  inanimate, 
open  up  their  inner  sanctuary.  The  temple  doors  hi- 
therto closed,  are  suddenly  unlocked  as  if  by  magic  influ- 
ence, and  the  Deity  within  shines  upon  the  devout  eye  of 
the  observer.  A  thick  curtain  hitherto  hung  over  the 
face  of  the  universe,  and  veiled  all  its  wondrous  secrets. 
Anon,  the  curtain  rolls  up,  and  the  veiled  God  is  at 
once  unveiled  before  the  clear  vision  of  the  Yogi.  The 
observer  and  the  observed,  the  subject  and  the  object, 
the  soul  and  All-soul,  the  son  and  the  Father  hitherto 
stood  separated,  and  nature  intervened  as  a  heavy 
stone-wall.  Man  knew  his  God  obscurely,  and  sent  up 
his  prayers  to  his  unknown  residence  in  the  cloud  lands. 
The  devotee,  with  all  his  theology  and  devotion,  stood 
myriads  of  miles  away  from  the  object  of  his  adoration." 

Now  that  the  eye  of  the  scientific  observer  has  been  quickened  and 
opened  by  yoga,  he  at  once  removes  the  obstruction,  pulls  down  the  barrier 
and  advances  to  his  God  unimpeded.  A  Divinity  cognized  mediately  is  now 
perceived  immediately.  An  absent  God  is  now  a  present  God.  The 
separated  two  thus  stand  before  each  other  face  to  face.  Then  union  takes 
place  through  spiritual  affinity  as  they  approach  and  flow  into  each  other. 
At  first  there  is  mutual  attraction,  then  communion,  then  intercommunion, 
then  absorption.  Constant  intercourse  consolidates  union,  and  makes  it 
more  real  and  sweet,  till  at  last  the  bond  of  union  becomes  indis- 
soluble  The  yogi's  eye  moves  right  and  left,   runs  east,   west,    north 

and    south,   dashing   through  infinite  space,  and  through  every  object,  every 


486  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

force,  every  law  in  nature  meets  his  omnipresent  King,  and  becomes  one  with 
Him.  Steam  and  electricity,  light  and  heat  directly  reveal  Him.  The 
force  of  gravitation  is  only  a  beautiful  vista  through  which  He  is  descried. 
The  laboratory  and  the  observatory,  the  museum  and  the  dissecting  room  are 
aglow  with  His  presence.  The  microscope  and  the  telescope,  like  sacred 
eyes,  reveal  new  worlds  of  beauty. 

This  closes  the  chapters  on  Vedic  or  Objective  yoga, 
and  next  we  have  a  dissertation  on  Subjective,  or 
Vedantic  yoga.  "  During  the  period  of  this  form  of  yoga 
the  Hindu  mind  is  retreating  from  external  nature  into 
the  inner  world.  Not  observation,  but,  introspection, 
not  the  objective  but  the  subjective  is  now  the  watch- 
word of  Aryan  theology.  The  Rishi  is  no  longer  im- 
pulsive and  poetical,  but  sedate  and  philosophical. 
He  has  done  with  the  outside  world ;  he  has  gathered 
all  the  materials  furnished  by  the  senses..  .We  now  see 
the  Vedantic  sage  absorbed  in  contemplation,  and  culti- 
vating the  deepest  communion  with  the  Supreme  Spirit 
with  closed  eyes.  The  Vedic  poet  was  all  objective.  .  . . 
the  vedantist  is  all  subjective,  his  way  to  the  unseen 
lies  through  the  depths  of  his  inner  nature.  His  is  the 
higher  order  of  yoga."     The  process  is  thus  described : 

All  is  tranquil  and  hushed  within.  Only  a  sense  of  self  fills  the  soul. 
The  devotee  calls  out  to  it  to  disappear.  And  before  his  "  thundering  voice  " 
self  vanishes  away.  Anon  the  Infinite  bursts  upon  his  view.  He  shines  as 
something  awfully  real,  a  burning  reality.  From  the  depths  of  his  being  this 
presence  surges  up  as  the  fountain  of  vitality.  From  above  it  descends  like 
a  continued  shower  of  inspiration.  From  all  sides  it  draws  near  as  the 
presence  of  one  who  is  dearest  and  nearest.  Deeper  insight  makes  the 
revelation  brighter,  and  this  Presence  sweeter.  The  more  the  yogi  looks  at 
this  reality,  the  more  distinctly  lie  traces  its  essential  features  and  character- 
istics.    A    mere   presence   is    soon    transformed   into   a    Person,    all   whose 


THE   PROCESS   OF  YOGA.  487 

attributes  so  far  as  they  are  visible  to  human  ken,  are  plainly  and  clearly 
perceived.  Here  is  Intelligence,  seen  by  the  eye  of  reason  ;  there  Love 
which  the  eye  of  love  apprehends  ;  here  Holiness,  revealed  to  the  eye  of 
Conscience  ;  and  then  in  the  centre  Will-force,  or  Personality,  in  which  all 
these  attributes  inhere.  As  the  eye  to  light,  and  the  ear  to  sound  are 
mysteriously  linked,  so  the  various  organs  of  the  self-bereft  soul  at  once 
and  naturally  unite  with  their  corresponding  attractions  in  the  Infinite  Soul. 
As  yoga  ripens  and  developes,  these  spiritbonds  become  tighter  and  draw 
the  Infinite  more  and  more  into  the  finite  soul.  Gradually  the  Almighty 
overpowers  the  yogi's  little  soul,  the  All-wise  confounds  his  wisdom,  the 
All-merciful  carries  away  his  love,  the  All-holy  dazzles  his  conscience.  Thus 
overpowered,  captivated  and  entranced,  the  devotee  looks  more  steadily  at 
this  God-presence,  and  he  soon  finds  beauty  ineffable,  beaming  forth  from 
the  countenance  of  this  peculiarly  attractive  Person.  Whatever  or  whoever 
he  may  be — who  knows  ?  He  is  indeed  a  graceful  Person,  a  sweet  moral 
Being,  a  joyous  Spirit.  If  He  confounds  us  by  His  greatness,  and  dazzles 
us  by  His  holiness,  which  myriads  of  suns  cannot  equal,  He  is  also  a  charm- 
ing sight,  a  gladdening  Presence,  a  serenity  and  a  sweetness  surpassing 
myriads  of  lunar  orbs.  Father  and  Mother,  Friend  and  Guide,  Teacher  and 
Saviour,  Comforter  and  Gladdener,  are  all  combined  in  this  one  Person,  and 
if  there  is  any  such  thing  as  spiritual  smile,  the  sweetest  and  the  loveliest 
smile  plays  on  the  lips  of  this  supremely  beautiful  Person.  He  is  moral 
beauty  in  perfection.  And  His  word,  that  inspires  and  enlightens,  is  moral 
music  in  perfection.  Who  that  has  seen  that  beauty  can  forget  it  ?  Who 
that  has  listened  to  that  sweet  voice  in  conscience  can  turn  away  from  it  ? 
Who  that  has  tasted  the  nectar  of  that  delicious  Presence  can  lay  aside  the 
sweet  cup  ?  None.  In  deepest  yoga  the  soul  is  completely  enraptured.  In 
God  the  yogi  has  sunk  deep,  never  to  rise  again." 

Such  was  the  spiritual  absorption  into  which  Keshub 
latterly  habituated  himself. 

He  completed  his  forty-fifth  year  on  the  19th  Novem- 
ber, and  his  birthday  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp 
and  rejoicing.  He  presided  at  the  Nam  Karan  (name 
giving)  ceremony  of  his  grandchildren  in  the  beginning 
of  December.  A  slight  apparent  improvement  in  his 
health  continued.     He  received  the  visits  of  the  Bishop 


488  LIFE   OF   KESHUR   CHUNDER   SEN. 

of  Calcutta,  Paramhansa  Ram  Krishna,  and  the  Ven'ble 
Devendra  Nath  Tagore.  His  conversation  with  them 
was  deeply  spiritual,  especially  with  Devendra  Nath, 
upon  whom  he  always  looked  as  his  spiritual  father.  He 
bowed  at  the  latter's  feet,  took  his  hand  and  put  it  on  his 
head,  as  if  courting  his  benediction.  Devendra  Nath 
lovingly  embraced  him,  and  talked  to  him  of  the  mercy 
of  the  Heavenly  Father  as  realized  in  the  time  of  danger 
and  disease.  Keshub  warmly  responded  to  every  senti- 
ment, and  all  his  visitors  parted  from  him  hopefully, 
seeing  how  hopeful  and  strong  in  spirit  he  felt.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  work  of  the  new  sanctuary  was  pushed 
on  with  great  vigour,  he  busily  corrected  the  proof-sheets 
of  the  Yoga  treatise,  the  program  of  the  anniversary 
festival  was  discussed,  the  Ananda  Bazar  preparations 
were  made  on  a  grand  scale,  and  the  Minister  insisted 
that  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the  annual  festival  was  on  any 
account  to  be  abated  by  reason  of  his  illness. 

In  the  last  week  of  December  it  appeared  in  the 
New  Dispensation  paper  that  "  the  minister  had  suf- 
fered another  relapse,  and  the  state  of  his  health 
was  critical."  The  consecration  ceremony  of  the 
new  Sanctuary  was  to  take  place  on  the  ist  January 
1884,  and  on  that  day  Keshub's  disease  had  nearly 
reached  its  culmination.  He  dragged  himself  to  his 
bedroom  window  whence  the  new  edifice  was  visible, 
and  insisted  on  being  taken  downstairs  to  preside 
over  the  ceremony.  Expostulations  were  vain,  he  stern- 
ly demanded  it,  and  when  he  demanded  a  thing, 
he  had  to  be  obeyed.     They  put  him  on  a  chair,  and 


CONSECRATION  OF  THE  NEW  SANCTUARY.        489 

took   him   into   the  damp   unfinished   hall   to   the    as- 
tonishment  of   the     whole     congregation.       He    was 
carried,  and  seated  on  the  new   marble   pulpit,  and  in  a 
very  feeble,  almost  inaudible  voice  cried  "  Namah  Saclii- 
dananda  Hare,  "  Salutation  to  the  God  of  truth,  wisdom, 
and  joy  "!     Then  with  folded  up-raised  hands,  with  the 
simple   accents  of  a   child,  he  prayed  thus  : — "  I  have 
come,  O  Mother,  into  thy  sanctuary.    They  all  forbade  me, 
but  I  have  somehow  just  succeeded  to  bring  myself  here. 
Mother,    thou  holdest   this   place,    and   reignest  here. 
This  is  thy  Devalaya.  Namah  Sachidananda  Hare !  This 
day,  the  first  of  January  1884,   the    18th  Paus,   in  Thy 
holy  presence,  and  in  the  presence  of  thy  devotees,  here 
as  well  as  in  heaven,  O  thou  Spirit   Mother,   this    new 
Devalaya   is    consecrated.     Thou  knowest,  O  Supreme 
Mother,  that  the  number   of  Bhaktas   who  came   from 
distant  parts  to  enjoy  thy  festivals  on  previous  occa- 
sions was  so  great  that  I  could  not  make  room  for  them 
in  my  house.     Hence  it  was  always  my  wish  to  pick  up 
a  few  bricks,  and  build  a  new  sanctuary  to  thee.     To 
fulfil  that  desire  thou  hast  now  built  this   place   of  wor- 
ship with  thine  own  hands  for  the  sanctification  of  my 
family,  of  this  neighbourhood,  this  city,  and  the  whole 
world.     This  place  where  I   worship  my  Mother  is  my 
Brindaban,  my  Kashi,  my  Mecca,  my  Jerusalem.     Bless, 

0  Mother,  that  thy  devotees  may  worship  thee  here, 
behold  thy  loving  face,  and  find  relief  from  the  misery 
of  disunion  with  thee.  Dear  brethren,  will  you  not 
worship  my  Divine  Mother  with  the  flower  of  Bhakti '  ? 

1  have  seen  that  this  flower  of  love  offered  even   by  the 

62 


4Q0  LIFE    OF   KESHUP.   CHUNDEK    SEN. 

most  humble  of  Her  children,  is  so  highly  prized  by 
Her,  that  she  carries  it  to  Her  Baikuntha,  and  in- 
vites all  Her  Bhaktas  there  to  come  and  see  it.  Ye 
know  not,  O  !  brethren,  how  anxious  the  Mother  is  to 
receive  your  offerings,  and  what  great  care  she  taketh 
to  store  up  for  you  in  the  world  to  come  Her  most 
sacred  treasures.  Accept,  dear  brethren,  this  infinitely 
Loving  Mother,  and  ever  rejoice  in  Her.  If  you  worship 
my  Mother  and  realize  Her  presence,  there  can  be  no 
more  sin  and  weakness,  sorrow  and  affliction.  My 
Mother  is  my  health  and  prosperity,  my  peace  and 
beauty,  my  life  and  immortality.  I  am  happy  amidst 
the  agonies  of  my  disease  in  the  presence  of  my  Mother, 
and  may  this  my  happiness  be  yours  also.  I  will  not 
speak  more,  because  I  fear  they  will  rebuke  me  if  I  do." 
This  was  Keshub's  last  recorded  prayer,  his  last 
appearance  before  his  devoted  congregation.  Who 
could  then,  though  the  occasion  was  most  affecting,  anti- 
cipate what  would  take  place  in  a  week  r  The  effort 
and  exposure  of  the  ist  January  produced  a  decided 
effect  upon  his  sinking  constitution,  every  symptom 
was  aggravated,  and  the  pain  in  the  loins,  of  which  we 
have  already  spoken,  became  insufferable.  On  Sunday 
the  6th  when  the  disease  took  a  very  alarming  form,  the 
ladies  of  the  household  became  frantic  with  grief,  and 
when  Keshub  was  asked  to  say  something  to  reassure 
them,  "What  more  have  I  to  say"?  he  replied  "If 
I  speak  at  all  I  will  speak  of  Baikuntha  (paradise)  and 
that  will  make  them  cry  all  the  more."  When  the 
agony  of  suffering  was  most  intense,  and  it  was  equally 


AWFUL   SUFFERINGS,   HOW  HE  BORE   THEM.       49! 

intense  day  and  night,  he  found  relief  in  the  short  sylla- 
bles "  Baba"  and  "  Ma"  familiar  expressions  for 
Father  and  Mother.  At  other  times  in  his  life  he  had 
invariably  preserved  a  most  stoic  silence  in  the  torment 
of  physical  pain.  Now  his  cries  were  loud  and  cease- 
less. Why  so  r  Evidently  under  the  disguise  of  bodily 
suffering  he  called  upon  his  Heavenly  Parent  night  and 
day.  The  agonized  cries  of  Baba  and  Ma,  that  resoun- 
ded through  the  house  and  neighbourhood,  amidst  all  the 
noise  of  day,  and  penetrated  the  stillness  of  night  were  a 
perpetual  invocation  to  the  Eternal  Spirit  to  visit  his 
prostrate  body,  and  parting  soul.  The  doctors,  of  whom 
there  were  many,  both  European  and  Indian,  being 
alarmed  that  the  dreadful  pain  must  soon  shatter  his 
poor  remnant  of  strength,  and  prematurely  bring  on 
a  catastrophe,  administered  powerful  narcotics  by  injec- 
tion. This  produced  prolonged  intervals  of  stupor. 
As  soon  as  he  awoke  the  agony  returned  with  in- 
creased vehemence.  He  became  restless,  ceaselessly 
turning  from  side  to  side,  and  piteously  groaning. 
During  some  of  these  awakings  he  addressed  words  of 
heart-rending  pathos  to  those  around.  He  rested  his 
head  for  a  few  minutes  on  his  mother's  bosom,  and 
said,  ''Mother,  can  nothing  cure  my  pain?"  "The 
pain,"  she  cried  "is  the  result  of  my  sins,  the  righteous 
son  suffers  for  the  wretched  parent's  unworthiness." 
"  Say  not  so,  do  not  say  so,  Mother  dear,  where  can 
there  be  another  mother  like  you  ?  Have  I  not  inheri- 
ted your  virtues  ?  Know,  that  the  Supreme  Mother  sends 
me  all  this    for   my  own    good.     She    plays  with    me, 


4Q2  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

turns  me  now  on  one  side,  now  on  another."  Then  at 
another  moment  he  put  his  arm  round  the  neck  of 
Trylokya  Nath  the  singing  apostle,  and  said,  "  O  Brother, 
dear  Brother  of  my  heart,  what  beautiful  songs  have 
you  sung  to  me.  I  will  hear  them  again,  I  will  hear 
them  again  in  heaven."  Similarly  he  embraced  both 
his  elder  and  younger  brothers.  When  asked  what 
provision  he  wanted  to  make  for  his  family,  he  said 
"  I  have  no  provision  to  make ;  they  will  be  provided 
for  by  Him  whose  household  they  are.  "  What  with 
the  stupefying  medicines,  what  with  the  frightful  pain, 
he  was  fast  becoming  speechless,  and  sometimes 
unconscious.  But  even  then  it  was  repeatedly  manifest 
that  his  Yoga  ecstacy  visited  him,  for  during  the  fatal 
week  from  the  ist  to  the  8th  January  at  certain  inter- 
vals he  cried  and  laughed,  and  plaintively  talked  to  the 
unseen  Spirit  of  God.  But  for  the  last  two  or  three 
days  this  became  less  and  less  frequent,  and  excepting 
the  occasional  feeble  utterances  of  pain  he  was  still 
and  outwardly  insensible.*     Yet  strange  to  say,   when- 

*  Dr.  J.  F.  M'Connel  who  attended  Keshub  during  the  last  week  of  the 
illness  gives  the  following  account  of  the  final  symptoms  : — 

"  I  first  saw  the  late  Babu  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
4th  January  1884.  At  that  time  (4  p.  m.)  he  was  suffering  from  agonizing 
pain  in  the  lower  part  of  the  left  side  of  the  abdomen,  was  greatly  prostrated, 
and  restless,  but  quite  conscious  and  able  to  converse.  The  cause  of  the 
pain  was  somewhat  obscure,  but  from  the  history  of  the  case  and  other 
circumstances  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  pointed  more  or  less  distinct- 
ly to  renal  colic.  The  first  and  paramount  object  was  to  give,  if  possible, 
immediate  relief.  One  third  of  a  grain  of  morphia  ami  1-60  gr.  of  atropia 
(in  solution)  were  injected  liypodennically,  and  fomentations  ordered  lobe 
applied  continuously,  and   a  saline   mixture    prescribed.     The    injection  gave 


MEDICAL   OPINIONS   AND   TREATMENT.  493 

ever  amidst  the  fast-approaching  darkness  of  the  final 
moment,   and   apparent   failure   of  sense,   the   singing 

almost   immediate  relief,   which,   moreover,  lasted  until  about  I  A.  M.  on  the 
morning  of  the  5th  January.     A  fresh  and  severe  exacerbation  then  set   in, 
which   necessitated  a  further  similar  injection  but  smaller  in  quantity,  u  e., 
only  \  grain  of  morphia.     This  again   gave   great  relief  but,    unfortunately, 
the  patient  being  very  susceptible  to  narcotics,  much  drowsiness  was  observed 
at  my  next  visit  (8-30  A.  M.,  5th  January)  and  as  the  paroxysms  of  pain  were 
less  severe,  we  decided  not  to  inject  again  unless  absolutely  obliged  to.     The 
nature  of  the  case  was  very  much  cleared  up  on  this  day,  as  evidence  of    the 
passage   of   gravel   was  distinct,   and  we  were  thereby  buoyed  up  with  hope 
that   the  obstruction  would   gradually    give   wray   and   permanent   relief    be 
afforded.     All  this   day  the  patient   was  somewhat  drowsy,   but   took  food 
fairly  well  and  answered  enquiries, — taking  an  interest  in  all   that  was   being 
done   for   him.     Matters   stood   thus   until  the  6th  January,  and  now  a  fresh 
complication  arose,  viz.,  jaundice  from   imperfect   biliary   elimination.     The 
pain   was   still   experienced    at  short  intervals,   but  much  relief  received  by 
fomentations  and  pressure.     External  sedatives  were  employed  and  counter- 
irritation  over   the  liver  ;  but  no  opiates  by  mouth  were  considered  advisable. 
Dr.  Harvey  saw  the  patient  with  me  this  afternoon  and  concurred  with   the 
general  plan  of   treatment  proposed.     On  the  7th  January,  there  were  more 
distinct  evidences  of  blood-poisoning  ;  the  patient  was  found  to  be   gradually 
becoming   more   and   more    insensible,    the    jaundice   deepening,    and   great 
reluctance   to   nourishment  of  any  kind  exhibited.     It  now  simply  became  a 
question  of  how  to  prolong   life   in   the   hope  that   the  failing   vital   powers 
might    still   rally.     No   medicines  could   be    taken,    and   food  only  in  small 
quantities.     The  latter  was  carefully  administered  (chiefly  milk)  and  combined 
with  diffusible  and  alcoholic  stimulants.     By  this  means  the  patient  was   kept 
alive   all  that   day  (the    7th)  although  towards    evening    it    became    most 
difficult  to  give  even  food  by  the  mouth.     I  left  the  house  at  4-30  A.  M.    on 
the  morning  of  the  8th  instant.     Death  took  place,  I  believe,  about  10  A.  M., 
the  same  day." 

Dr.  Bhagavan  Chandra  Rudra  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  While  I  was  strolling  along  with  you  one  evening  at  Darjeeling  our  con- 
versation turned  upon  the  subject  of  the  nature  of  the  malady  from  which  our 
illustrious  countryman  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  had  suffered  and  which  terminated 


494  Lli<E   0h'  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

apostle  sang  some  of  the  favorite  hymns,  he  showed 
unmistakable  signs   of  listening   with    deep    attention, 

fatally  in  so  short  a  time.  I  had  the  honor  of  attending  him  for  about  a 
week  prior  to  his  departure  from  this  world.  His  chief  complaint  was  ago- 
nizing pain  in  the  abdomen  extending  from  the  liver  to  the  groin.  Sedatives 
and  palliatives  were  employed,  but  they  were  of  no  avail.  The  pain  increased 
and  at  times  became  so  excruciating  that  our  minister  continuously  groaned 
and  was  very  restless.  Two  or  three  days  previous  to  his  death  large  deposits 
of  gravel  (chiefly  composed  of  uric  acid)  were  detected.  That  cleared  the 
diagnosis  of  the  case,  and  the  origin  of  that  unbearable  pais  was  traced. 
Proper  medicines  were  administered  which  gave  him  only  temporary  relief. 
His  case  became  hopeless  and  baffled  all  attempts  of  medical  ingenuity. 

He  could  discern  amidst  all  his  sufferings  that  the  date  of  the  dissolution  of 
his  body  was  not  distant.  The  evening  before  his  death  he  called  in  question 
the  efficacy  of  medicines,  and  when  solemn  silence  was  maintained  by  the  atten- 
ding doctors,  what  a  marvellous  change  was  observed  in  him  !  From  groan- 
ing and  restlessness  there  was  a  sudden  change  to  that  serene  composure  of 
the  mind  which  he  retained  for  some  hours,  and  which  deepened,  as  I  am 
led  to  believe,  into  coma  next  morning.  Such  a  remarkable  change  could 
not  at  fust  be  the  effect  of  uremea  or  cholemea  which  the  doctors  pronounced. 
I  am  of  opinion  that  that  sudden  change  was  the  inevitable  result  of  self- 
concentration,  or  abstraction  from  the  external  world  including  his  own 
body.  Thenceforth  he  exhibited  no  signs  of  feeling  that  terrible  pain  which 
made  him  once  cry  out  for  medical  help.  Listlessly  he  tossed  about  in  bed, 
but  the  occasional  hymns  which  his  followers  sang  served  to  lull  him  into 
quietude.  I  am  inclined  to  say  that  he  retained  consciousness  for  some  hours, 
while  he  lay  insensible  to  his  sufferings. 

What  the  origin  was  of  that  abnormal  product  (gravels  in  the  urine)  that 
caused  such  dreadful  suffering  was  the  principal  question  which  I  tried  to 
solve.  I  was  disposed  to  think,  subject,  however,  to  correction,  that  as  our 
patient  was  not  used  to  take  animal  food  for  a  long  time,  and  as  his 
digestive  organs  were  not  prepared  to  fully  assimilate  it,  that  sudden  alteration 
of  diet  from  exclusively  vegetable,  to  chiefly  animal  food,  which  was  forced 
upon  him,  might  have  caused  malassimilation,  and  such  inferior  and  abnormal 
product  of  digestion  as  gravels. 

Above   all   one    thing   is  certain,   viz.,   Diabetis  MelhtUS  to  which  he  was 


THE   LAST   MOMENTS   AND   THE   RELEASE.  495 

and  evident  relief.  The  whole  of  Monday,  the  7th  Jan., 
both  day  and  night,  was  a  prolonged  period  of  fearful 
anxiety  and  pain  to  every  one.  Great  crowds  who  came 
to  visit,  stood  silent  and  awstruck  in  the  veranda  and 
courtyard.  The  many  doctors  drove  in  and  out  every  few 
minutes,  talking  in  solemn  whispers,  with  despondent 
faces.  Brahmo  Missionaries,  devoted  members  of  the 
congregation,  numerous  friends  and  relatives,  sat  or 
stood,  or  lay  down,  overwatching  and  tired,  wherever 
they  found  a  little  space.  The  frantic  mother  and  wife, 
daughters,  and  sons  filled  the  house  with  lamentations 
which  no  one  had  the  heart  to  control.  And  amidst 
each  lull  of  this  many-voiced  wretchedness,  Keshub's 
faint  dying  moans  were  heard.  They  still  shaped  in- 
articulately the  words  "  Father !  "  "  Mother  !  "  Trylokya 
Nath  sang  his  last  hymn  : — 

"  If  it  be  possible,  O  Lord  of  life,  remove  this  cup, 
Yet  not  mine,  but  thy  will  be  done — even  amidst  this  awful  sorrow." 

In  a  moment,  the  patient  was  still,  the  moans  ceased, 
and  a  feeble  smile  lighted  up  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 
But  directly  the  song  was  over  the  expressions  of 
pain  returned.  The  hard-breathings  so  prophetic  of 
the  end,  had  begun  early,  and  lasted  more  than 
twelve  hours.      The  assembled  relatives   and  apostles 

subject  for  a  long  time,  gradually  wrought  so  serious  a  mischief  in  the 
liver  and  kidneys  as  to  lead  at  last  to  uremea  or  cholemea  which  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  death. 

I  remain, 
Very  truly  yours, 

B.  C.  RUDRA. 


496  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

who    surrounded    the    bed    all    the   time,    were   every 
moment   expecting  his   release.      As   the  darkness   of 
that   long   night   of  terror    faded  into     the    indistinct 
morning  twilight,  the  congregation  chanted  the  solemn 
Sanskrit  Stotra  of  the  hundred  and  eight  divine  names. 
The  departing  soul  even  then  showed  a  symptom   of 
joining  the   chant.     Unconscious   to   all   else,  he   was 
merged  mysteriously  into  the  one  lingering  conscious- 
ness  of  the   Great  Familiar  Presence.     Less  on  earth, 
more  in   heaven,  life's  last  sacrament  drew  his  closing 
sense.     The  twilight  broke  into  dawn,  the   dawn  into 
morning,  the  last  sunshine  poured  into  that  crowded 
chamber   of  death.     The  night  lamp,  still   allowed  to 
burn,  gave  its  pale  flicker  from  the  side  of  the  bed.     The 
master's  spirit  still  lingered  in  its  worn  earthly  habita- 
tion.    The    breathing,    however,    became   fainter,   and 
harder,  the  struggle  relaxed  every  moment,   till   at  53 
minutes  past  9  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  8th  January, 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  breathed  his  last.     Not  a  muscle 
was  strained,  not  a  feature  was  rigid,  not  a  mark  of  the 
prolonged  struggle  remained  behind.     But  as  the  faith- 
ful watchers  still  gazed  on  that  placid  countenance,  and 
the  great  household  burst  out  into  an  uproar  of  grief, 
behold  the  lustre  of  an  unearthly  smile  stole  over  the 
majestic  features  !    The  face  had  not  lost,  but  gained 
fulness  from  the  touch  of  death.     It  was  not  a  smile  so 
much,   as  the  light  of  joy   which  fathers   all   smiling. 
It  was   the  approaching  light  of  the   full-orbed   moon 
behind  mountain  solitudes,  it  was  the  identical  expres- 
sion of  profound  happiness  which  illumined  his   whole 


THE  AFTER- GLOW.  497 

countenance,   when  his  communion  with  God  was  deep- 
est.    Every  one  remembered  it  so  well.     What  brought 
it  back   when   life   was   extinct  ?     It    seemed  to  be  the 
bond  of  identity  between  time  and  eternity,  the  blessed- 
ness of  union  between  life    and   immortality,   the   after- 
glow of  the  ascended  spirit  as  it  entered  into  its  glorious 
repose.     They  marvelled  at  it.     The  wife  clung  to  the 
lifeless  feet,  bedewed  them  with  tears,  and  cried  out  "  I 
got  a  divine  being  for  my  husband.     I  knew   not,  nor 
recognized  thee  when  thou   wert  with  me,   what  will 
become  of  me  now  \"     Keshub's  mother  took  his  lifeless 
form   to  her   bosom,   and  said  "  Child,   in    thy  blessed 
image  I  see  no   man.     It  is  the  beauty  of  Mahadeva  \" 
But  Keshub  smiled  at  all  this  passing  sorrow.     Bereft 
of  every  unreality,  he  had  gone  where  all  tears  had  for- 
ever been  wiped  away. — Rest  there,  O  beloved  of  many 
hearts,  hope  of  many  causes,  rest  now  in  thy  glory  in  the 
abode  of  the  blessed!     Thy  cares   and  sufferings  were 
many  ;  very  ill-recompensed  here.     But  thou  hast  built 
on  the  everlasting  foundations,  thou  hast  shown  the  light 
of  undying  example,  thou  hast  enriched  all  humanity. 

The  disciples  carefully  washed,  and  robed  the  departed 
master.  Wreathed  with  garlands  of  fragrant  flowers, 
dressed  in  silks  of  the  purest  white,  supported  on  the 
whitest  and  softest  of  beds,  the  body  was  brought  down 
into  the  New  Sanctuary,  and  laid  out  in  state.  Just 
seven  days  ago,  feeble  and  tottering*,  that  prostrate  form 
had  ascended  the  pulpit  which  now  remained  unoccu- 
pied with  a  ghastly  vacancy.  The  fingers  still  retained 
the   ink-marks  which    stained  them  by  frequent  correc- 


498  LIFE   OF  KESHUB   CHUXDER   SEN. 

tions  of  the  proof-sheets.  Every  activity  he  left  behind 
him  was  so  warm,  so  fragrant  with  his  sanctified  per- 
sonality. Yet  himself  hidden  behind  the  veil  for  ever  ! 
Many  were  the  prayers,  and  the  vows  of  unity  which  the 
assembled  apostles  made.  But  to  what  purpose  now  ? 
By  the  middle  of  the  day  the  sad  intelligence  spread 
through  the  streets  of  Calcutta,  that  the  great  Brahmo 
leader  was  no  more.  When  the  funeral  procession  was 
made  up  at  about  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  hun- 
dreds had  gathered  in  Lily  Cottage.  As  it  entered  the 
streets  on  its  way  to  the  riverside  at  the  place  of  cre- 
mation, the  hundreds  had  multiplied  into  thousands. 
The  cortege  stopped  once  before  the  Brahma  Mandir, 
and  again  before  the  mandir  of  the  Sadharan  Somaj. 
From  the  roofs  of  the  surrounding  houses  showers  of 
flowers  were  strewn  on  the  open  stretcher  with  its 
stately  burden,  the  sweet  smiling  face  kept  uncovered. 
The  attendant  crowds  consisting  of  all  castes  and 
denominations,  who  spontaneously  gathered  without  the 
least  invitation,  took  up  the  cry  of  Jai  Sachidananda 
Hare  !  "  Glory  to  the  God  of  truth,  wisdom,  and  joy  !" 
An  eye-witness  describes  the  scene  thus  in  the  New 
Dispensation  paper  : — 

"The  procession  moved  on.  The  mourners,  who 
were  carriers  of  the  body  also,  tired  not,  rested  not, 
parted  not,  but  moved  on,  as  if  impelled  and  kept  up 
by  a  power  from  above.  The  crowds  that  were  by, 
came  to  relieve  these  of  their  task,  but  could  hardly 
get  them  to  lose  their  hold  of  the  sacred  remains. 
As    it    passed     Beadon    Park,    (the   frequent   scene    of 


THE  FUNERAL  PROCESSION  AND   CEREMONY.      499 

Keshub's  oratory)  there  was  a  wail  of  lamentation 
raised.  Those  who  were  in  the  garden  said  to  those 
that  knew  not,  and  asked  why  the  procession,  that  the 
Orator  of  the  Beadon  Park  was  being  carried  to  his  last 
place  of  rest.  The  women  in  the  streets  got  into  the 
thickest  of  the  crowd  to  have  a  last  look.  The  assembly 
was  large;  some  thousands  having  now  gathered.  The 
Europeans  and  the  Hindus  were  there,  and  the  Maho- 
medans  were  there,  all  were  there  to  pay  their  tribute 
of  respect  to  the  beloved  leader  of  the  Church  of  the 
New  Dispensation.  The  burning  ghat  was  at  last 
reached.  The  sun  was  now  going  down  the  horizon, 
and  the  shades  of  night  were  descending.  The  gather- 
ing had  reached  its  largest  dimensions.  There,  in  the 
evening  twilight,  as  the  earthly  remains  of  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  lay  on  their  flowery  bed,  beautiful,  even 
in  death,  still  more  beautiful  than  in  life,  if  that  were 
possible,  the  eyes  parted,  their  lustre  no  longer  visible, 
the  hand  resting  upon  the  heart,  the  rest  sheeted  in 
white,  covered  with  flowers,  and  the  thick  concourse 
intently  gazing  upon  the  face  and  the  smile,  the  gather- 
ing behind  pressing  to  come  forward  to  have  a  look — 
the  burning  ghat  witnessed  a  spectacle  unsurpassed  in 
dignity  and  impressiveness  by  anything  within  the 
memory  of  the  living." 

The  funeral  ceremony,  or  the  cremation  was  thus 
performed.  "When  the  body  was  laid  on  the  pyre,  the 
officiating  priest  chanted  the  usual  Sanskrit  verse.  The 
eldest  son  Karuna  Chunder  Sen  then  held  a  torch  in 
his  right  hand,   and  solemnly   applied   it   to  the  pyre 


500  LIFE   OF   KESHUB   CHUNDER   SEN. 

saying  : — u  In  the  name  of  God  I  apply  this  holy  fire 
to  the  last  remains  of  the  deceased.  The  mortal  shall 
burn  away  and  perish,  but  the  immortal  shall  live.  O 
Lord  !  the  departed  soul  is  rejoicing  with  Thee  in  Thy 
blissful  Abode."  As  the  body  began  to  burn,  the 
mourners  with  one  voice  cried  out  : — Jai  Sachidananda 
Hare!"  Glory  be  unto  the  Redeemer  who  is  Truth, 
Wisdom,  and  Joy ;  Brahma  Kripa  hi  Kcvalam ! " 
"  God's  grace  only  availeth  "  "  Shanti  !  Shanti  !  Shanti  !' 
Peace.  Peace.  Peace.  The  cremation  of  the  body 
took  five  hours.  At  about  1 1-15,  the  ashes  were  collected 
in  an  urn,  and  brought  to  Lily  Cottage  by  the  chief 
mourners,  and  apostles  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

The  funeral  procession,  and  also  the  condolences  that 
poured  in  from  her  exalted  Majesty  the  Empress  of 
India,  down  to  the  humble  Brahmo  sympathizer  from 
the  remotest  corner  of  India,  showed  the  universality 
and  enthusiasm  of  honor  in  which  Keshub  Chunder 
.Sen  was  held.  Even  his  warmest  and  most  devoted 
admirers  were  astounded  at  the  unexpected  testimony. 
All  India  throbbed  with  one  pulsation  of  universal 
sorrow,  in  which  the  most  conservative  of  races  forgot 
their  distinctions  of  caste,  colour,  religion,  and  training-. 
It  proved  indeed  that  India  was  fast  growing  into  a  na- 
tional life,  and  beginning  to  recognize  its  national  heroes. 
Fifteen  days  afterwards  the  Shradh  ceremony  was  per- 
formed amidst  imposing  and  melancholy  solemnities,  and 
the  ashes  were  deposited  in  their  last  resting-place,  in 
the  open  space  in  front  of  the  New  Sanctuary  in  Lily 
Cottage. 


WHERE  THE  ASHES  REST.  501 

Everything  is  over  now.  They  have  beautified  the 
ground  into  a  garden  of  many-coloured  leaves  and 
flowers,  in  the  middle  of  which  stands  Keshub's  tomb. 
It  is  a  modest  obelisk  of  white  marble  surmounted  by 
the  symbolic  device  of  the  New  Dispensation  made  of 
the  cross,  crescent,  trident,  and  Vedic  Omkar.  The 
main  building  of  the  Sanctuary  stands  to  the  north, 
crowned  by  the  flowers  and  foliage  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, the  west  is  overlooked  by  the  windows  of  Keshub's 
bedroom,  the  scene  of  his  last  agonies,  the  sacred 
spot  where  he  breathed  his  last.  They  keep  the 
room  in  the  exact  order  as  on  the  morning  of  his 
departure  from  this  world.  The  whole  place  is  roman- 
tic, beautiful,  and  sanctified.  So  let  us  trust  it  will 
remain  for  generations,  yea  for  ever.  At  the  foot  of 
the  marble  pillar  on  a  well-polished  slab  is  inscribed 
Keshub's  monogram  with  its  threefold  motto  of  "  Truth, 
Love,  Holiness,"  while  underneath  is  a  beautiful  quota- 
tion from  his  writings,  thus: — "Long  since  has  the 
little  bird  '  I '  soared  away  from  this  sanctuary,  I  know 
not  where,  never  to  return  again." — Fit  place  of  pilgri- 
mage this,  for  Theists  of  all  lands  and  races  ! 


64 


APPENDIX.  503 


APPENDIX. 
KESHUB'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

Extracts  and  Translations  from  Jeevan  Ved*  (the  Scriptures  of  Life). 

Chapter  I.    Prayer. 

The  first  lesson  of  the  scriptures  of  my  life  is  Prayer.  When  no  one  helped 
me,  when  I  did  not  enter  the  membership  of  any  religious  society,  did  not 
examine  the  merits  of  religious  systems,  or  adopt  any  as  my  own  ;  when 
I  did  not  resort  to  the  company  of  any  believers  or  devotees ;  in  that 
dawn  of  my  spiritual  life,  the  voice  that  sounded  in  my  heart  was  "Pray  !  " 
"Pray !".... I  never  knew  very  well  why  or  for  what  I  should  pray,  that 
was  not  the  time  to  reason.  There  was  no  one  whom  I  could  ask,  nor  did 
any  one  offer  to  advise  me.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  be 
mistaken.  I  did  pray.  In  laying  the  foundation  of  a  house  who  thinks  of  its 
future  beauty  ?...."  Offer  prayer  ;  thou  shalt  be  saved  ;  thy  character  shall 
be  pure,  what  thou  wantest  thou  shalt  get ;"  this  voice  sounded  from  the 
east  and  west  of  my  life,  from  the  north  and  south.  Prayer  is  man's  guide, 
prayer  is  the  endless  helper.  This  one  thing  (prayer)  I  knew,  I  knew 
nought  else.  I  had  no  spiritual  friend.  I  looked  up  to  the  sky,  but  heard 
of  no  divine  dispensation,  no  gospel  of  any  known  religion  reached  me. 
I  never  took  thought  whether  I  should  repair  to  the  Christian  Church,  to 
the  Mahamedan  Musjid,  to  the  Hindu  Devalaya,  or  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Buddhists.  From  the  first  I  had  recourse  to  that  supplication  before  God 
which  is  greater  than  Veda,  or  Vedanta,  Koran,  or  Puran,  to  prayer  I  held 
fast.  I  am  a  man  of  faith  ;  I  reflect  and  then  I  believe.  But  when  I 
once  put  my  faith  in  a  thing,  I  am  never  shaken  again ....  I  offered  one 
prayer  in  the  morning  and  one  in  the  evening,  both  of  which  I  had  written 
out.  The  day  dawn  brightened  into  morning,  the  sun  rose  higher  and 
higher.    All  that  was  hidden  in  darkness  before  began  to  clear  up.     Objects 


*  These  translations  give  only  the  substance,  not  every  sentence  of  the 
fifteen  sermons  published  as  Jeevan  Ved.  They  were  all  extemporary,  and 
therefore  somewhat  prolix.  They  were  published  from  notes  taken  at  the 
time. 


504  APPENDIX. 

around  were  distinctly  seen,  and  by  the  practice  of  prayer  I  gained  an  endless 
resistless  strength,  the  strength  of  a  lion.    Lo,     I  had  not  the   same  body, 
or  the    same  mind.     Great  was  the  strength  of  my  resolution.    I  shook  my 
fists  in  the  face  of  sin.    I  showed  the  terrible   form    of  my   determined   will 
to  doubt,  unbelief,  sin,  and  temptation.     Every   evil   fled   from   me   when   I 
threatened  to  pray .  .1  did  not  speak  good  Bengali  at  the  time,  so  my  prayers 
were  not  expressed  in  proper  language.     I  could  not  contain  my  ideas.    I  sat 
near  the  window,  and  said   a  word  or   two  with  open  eyes.     Greatly  was  I 
rejoiced  at   that ....  Perhaps  more  than  all  other   men  present  here  I  am 
in  greater  debt  to  prayer,  because   there  was  a  time  when  I   had  no  other 
help   than  prayer.     I  knew  whoever    prayed    heard    something.     From  the 
beginning  the  doctrine  of  adesh   (inspiration)  was  involved   in   this.     What 
religion  should  I  adopt  ?    Prayer  answered  that  question.     Should  I  leave  all 
secular  work  and  become  a  missionary  ?    What  relations  should  I  keep  with 
my  wife  ?    How  far  should  I  mix  myself  in  money  matters  ?    Prayer  answered 
all   these  questions.     I  did  not  then  think  much  on   the   doctrine  of  inspira- 
tion, but  I  had  the  conviction  that  he  that  prays  gets  a  response,   he  that 
wants  to  see  beholds,   and  he  that  has  a  desire   to  hear,  is  given  to  hear. 
By  prayer  my  intelligence  was  so  cleared  up   that   it   seemed  I  had   studied 
logic,  and  philosophy,  and  difficult  sciences  for  decades  in  some  university. 
....  Gradually  I  joined  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  became  a  devotee,  a  missionary, 
a  preceptor.     Everything  came  in  time.     I  have  faith  in  prayer,   and  hence 
my  life  is  what  it  is.     Delusions   on   the  subject  of  prayer  ought  to  be  re- 
moved from  our  community.     He  who  prays  but  does  not  wait  for  an  answer 
is  a  deceiver.     He  whose  exterior  and  interior  are  not  the  same,  who  speaks 
overmuch,  and  cannot  keep  right  his  spirit  at  the  time  of  prayer,  is  a  deceiver. 
The  state  of  prayer  is  a  difficult  state.     He  who  cannot  remember  in  the 
afternoon  what  he  prayed  for  in  the  morning,  cannot  remember  on  Tuesday, 
if  asked,  what  he  prayed   for  on  Sunday,   is  a  deceiver.     He  who  prays  for 
wealth,  or  honour,  or  any  worldly  good, — nay  even  he  who  prays  for  more 
than  fifteen  parts  of  piety  and  less  than  half  part  of  the  world, — is  a  deceiver. 
Therefore  keep  your  prayers  pure.     Pray  for  heavenly  things  alone,  and  you 
will  get  everything  else. 

Chapter  II.    Sense  of  Sin. 

What   is  sin  ?   What   does  a   man    to  be  sinful  ?     I  did  not  discuss  these 
questions,  and  then  come  to  the  sense  of  sin.     In  seeing  I  felt  what  sin  was 


SENSE   OF   SIN.  505 

in  an  instant,  naturally  I  had  the  sense  of  sin.  In  the  state  I  am  speaking 
of,  no  man  as  teacher  created  in  me  the  sense  of  sin.  I  was  the  strongest 
witness  of  my  own  sin.  "I  am  a  sinner,  I  am  a  sinner,"  my  heart  always 
said  this.  In  the  forenoon,  in  the  afternoon,  all  the  hours  of  the  day,  as 
long  as  I  was  awake,  I  had  continually  this  sense  of  sin.  In  the  dictionary 
of  the  world  theft,  robbery,  and  such  other  things  are  called  sin.  In  my 
dictionary  sin  means  self-reproach,  sin  means  disease,  an  unhealthy  condition, 
a  weakness ;  sin  means  the  possibility  of  becoming  sinful.  I  did  not  rest 
satisfied  to  know  sin  as  sin ;  the  possibility  of  committing  sin  was  dreadful  to 
me.  When  the  light  of  conscience  dawned  on  my  heart,  I  beheld  there  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  objects  great  and  small,  such  as  inertness,  weakness,  and 
passions  of  many  kinds.  All  these  lay  so  concealed  that  if  the  light  of  con- 
sience  were  not  kindled,  they  would  remain  unseen  in  the  heart.  So  long 
as  there  is  this  material  body,  there  is  the  root  of  lust  and  anger. 
When  I  say  this  I  must  also  tell  you  I  do  not  believe  in  the  doctrine  that 
man  is  born  in  sin.  When  there  are  carnal  propensities,  there  is  the  root  of 
sin  in  them.  I  may  commit  sin.  How  ?  I  may  tell  a  lie.  I  may  steal. 
If  the  sight  of  a  man's  wealth  produces  for  an  instant  the  thought  that  this 
wealth  may  pass  from  him  to  me,  I  am  a  thief.  When  life  is  seriously  risked, 
I  may  become  uncertain,  and  speak  what  is  not  true.  Or  if  a  direct  untruth 
is  not  uttered,  I  may  say  something  that  leaves  a  wrong  impression  in  the 
hearer's  mind.  Likewise  if  I  ever  think  myself  greater  than  I  really  am, 
I  am  guilty  of  pride.  If  I  love  myself  inwardly  more  than  I  love  others, 
or  seek  my  own  happiness  more  than  that  of  other  men,  I  am  guilty  of  the 
sin  of  selfishness.  Thus  I  see  different  sizes  of  sin  in  myself,  long  and  large, 
short  and  small,  which  like  the  worms  of  hell  wriggle  within  my  heart. 
If  I  count  how  many  sins  I  have  committed  in  these  forty-four  years,  I  may 
say  without  exaggeration  I  can  count  at  least  a  million.  The  light  of  con- 
science is  so  strong  in  me  that  even  the  smallest  sins  are  at  once  detected. 
This  sense  of  sin  causes  me  misery.  It  seems  I  am  appointed  to  count  these 
sins  as  if  they  were  some  one  else's  sins,  so  strong  is  the  witness  of  my 
mind  against  them.  From  morning  I  count  them  all  day.  Now  it 
is  selfishness,  then  pride,  then  covetousness,  afterwards  the  love  of  untruth, 
or  the  vain-gloriousness  of  wealth,  so  on,  and  so  on.  Tins  reckoning  is  not  by 
the  intellect,  but  by  the  heart.  It  makes  the  heart  burn ....  As  in  the  spider's 
large  net  no  sooner  than  the  least  fly  fallsr  he  hastens  to  catch  it,  so  if  there 
is  any  such  thing  as   the  spiritual   nervous  system,    as   soon  as  the  least 


506  APPENDIX. 

fly  of  sin  falls  within  its  meshes,  it  makes  an  instant  perception.  If  in 
any  region  of  life  there  is  a  bad  thought,  or  a  duty  unfulfilled,  some  good  deed 
undone,  some  virtue  set  at  defiance,  some  weakness  unremedied,  the  mind, 
ever  awake,  sees  it  at  a  glance.  My  conscience  is  very  hard.  Its  power  of 
cutting  is  terrible.  If  in  pitying  any  one  I  trespass  against  the  law  of 
justice,  I  have  no  peace  in  the  day  or  night.  If  I  make  a  day's  delay  in  paying 
the  wages  of  my  servants,  conscience  at  once  says  "O  thou  sinner,  behavest 
thou  so  unjustly  ?  "  If  I  urge  I  will  pay  to-morrow  not  to-day,  conscience 
again  says  "Ah,  dost  thou  eat  to-day?  Thou  art  rich,  and  partakest  of 
thy  meals  in  comfort,  but  wilt  not  pay  the  wages  of  thy  servant  who 
is  poor  ?  "  What  more  shall  I  say,  there  is  no  sin  on  earth  which  I  cannot 
commit.  For  this  reason  I  cannot  believe  easily  any  man  to  be  holy. 
And  for  this  reason  no  one  can  put  me  out  of  countenance  by  the  accusation 
of  sinfulness.  How  can  you  confound  a  man  by  charging  him  with  sin, 
when  he  already  counts  fifty  thousand  sins  in  his  heart  ? . . . .  Behold  such  is 
the  man  whom  you  reverence.  You  do  not  see  this,  you  do  not  think  of 
this.     So  great  is  my  misery,  so  great  is  my  repentance. 

But  glory  be  unto  God  that  from  another  point  of  view  there  are  few  men 
as  happy  as  I  myself.  These  worms  of  hell  in  me,  these  sins  in  my  eye,  ear, 
and  tongue,  what  do  they  do  ?  Much  good.  If  I  had  no  sense  of  sin,  I  should 
not  come  here.  For  if  my  hell  is  a  present  reality,  my  heaven  is  also  a 
present  reality.  In  the  body  that  is  long  diseased,  it  is  not  easy  to  detect 
the  seat  of  ill-health,  but  in  a  sound  body  every  sign  of  disease  is  easily 
found.  Because  the  instant  I  find  a  sin  that  instant  also  I  feel  the  intense  de- 
sire of  prayer,  and  yoga.  If  I  had  been  guilty  of  only  ten  sins,  or  ten  sinful 
possibilities,  when  I  got  rid  of  those  I  should  look  upon  myself  as  the 
greatest  saint.  But  now  conscience,  by  continually  producing  in  me  the 
sense  of  sin,  opens  to  me  the  path  of  endless  progress.  Over  and  above 
this  sense  of  sin,  there  is  the  sense  of  infidelity.  "  Is  God  here  ?"  "  Is  Christ 
living  ?"  "  Shall  I  behold  the  face  of  Chaitanya  ?"  O  thou  sinner,  doubtest 
thou  all  this  ?  There  is  agony.  Thus  I  run  from  city  to  city,  till  I  reach  the 
City  of  Peace,  and  the  mansions  of  joy.  Unless  a  man  has  been  sick,  he 
cannot  know  the  blessings  of  health.  Unless  a  man  has  suffered  poverty, 
he  cannot  know  the  happiness  of  prosperity.  I  have  experienced  sorrow, 
I  have  also  experienced  the  blessedness  of  deliverance  from  sorrow.  As  the 
hand  of  the  watch  ticks  every  second,  so  there  is  in  me  a  voice  crying 
perpetually.     "  Thou   hast   gained   very  little,    thou   art    nothing,  thou  hast 


BAPTISM  OF  FIRE   (ENTHUSIASM).  507 

advanced  very  little  indeed."  As  the  horse  feels  the  lash  of  the  whip,  so 
this  inner  voice  lashes  me.  Only  the  strange  thing  is  that  while  I  cry,  I 
laugh  also.  The  more  I  cry,  the  more  I  laugh.  If  taking  medicine  gives 
health,  who  will  not  take  the  medicine  ?. . .  .May  our  sense  of  sin  increase. 
May  we  have  the  misery  and  the  repentance  that  comes  out  of  the  sense  of 
sin.  Our  Mother  is  so  loving,  that  after  every  misery,  there  is  reserved  for 
us  a  corresponding  joy.  That  very  sense  of  guilt  which  produces  pain  is  the 
cause  of  joy  also.  What  is  our  sorrow  when  we  know  the  God  of  yoga, 
and  the  joy  of  communion  ?  We  have  millions  of  sins,  we  have  millions  of 
remedies.  We  shall  destroy  millions  of  Satans.  What  is  his  fear  who  has 
devoted  his  life  to  the  Mother  ?  Where  then  is  the  strength  of  sin  ?  O  friends, 
I  have  spoken  to  you  of  the  darkness,  I  have  also  spoken  to  you  of  the 
light.  If  ye  have  sinned  let  your  souls  become  restless ;  and  as  ye  grow 
restless,  the  God  of  peace  shall  come  nigh  unto  you,  and  cause  His  rest  to 
fill  your  hearts. 

Chapter  III.    Baptism  of  Fire  (Enthusiasm). 

If  I  ask  thee,  O  self,  in  what  creed  wast  thou  baptized  in  early  life  ? 
My  soul  answereth,  in  the  baptism  of  fire.  I  am  a  worshipper  of  the  religion 
of  fire.  I  am  partial  to  the  doctrine  of  enthusiasm.  To  me  the  state  of 
being  on  fire  is  the  state  of  salvation.  What  is  this  creed  of  fire  ?  I  see 
many  lives  have  coldness  in  them  and  no  fire,  and  many  lives  have  fire  and 
no  coldness.  The  former  are  placid  in  their  disposition,  inactive,  very  com- 
posed in  what  they  do.  Their  motions  are  slow,  their  words  without  warmth, 
in  their  hearts  there  is  little  enthusiasm.  Even  if  they  go  to  heaven  they 
seek  a  cool  place.  If  heavenly  fire  and  water  are  placed  before  them,  with 
great  longing  and  love  they  take  to  the  water.  If  this  coldness  be  the 
prevailing  sentiment,  it  makes  man's  nature  a  spiritless  thing,  and  relaxes  its 
bonds ....  All  that  is  opposed  to  this  kind  of  temperament  is  fire.  In  the 
life  of  the  person  who  now  speaks,  from  the  beginning  the  fire  of  enthusiasm 
and  energy  has  burnt.  It  does  not  show  itself  as  a  temporary  heroism,  it 
does  not  come  and  go.  In  the  vocabulary  of  religion  it  is  said  that 
heat  means  life ;  the  reverse  of  heat  means  death.  When  the  physician 
observes  there  is  no  more  warmth  in  a  man's  body,  it  is  all  cold,  he  will 
decide  that  life  is  extinct.  It  is  the  same  in  religious  life.  For  this  reason 
from  early  life  I  have  been  an  advocate  of  fire.  My  heart  palpitates  as  soon 
as  I  perceive  any  coldness  in  myself.    It  may   take   time   to   know  whether 


508  APPENDIX. 

I  am  a  sinner  or  not,  but  it  does  not  take  time  to  know  whether  I  am  dead  or 
alive.  I  at  once  decide  this  by  feeling  whether  I  am  cold  or  warm.  I  live  in  the 

midst  of  fire,  I  embrace  and   exalt   fire Wherever   I   find  warmth,   I  find 

hope,  happiness,  courage.     If  I  find  the  fire  is  losing  its  heat,  I  feel  the  man  is 
going  presently  to   drown  himself.     Therefore  to  me  a  cold  state  is  a  state  of 
unholiness.     Hell  and  coldness  have  been  always  identical   to  me.    Around 
my  heart,   and  around  my  society  I  have   always  kept  burning  the  fire  of 
enthusiasm.     When  I  have  served  one  body  of  men,  I  have  longed  for  other 
bodies  of  men   whom   I   serve.     When   I   have   compiled   truths   from  one 
set   of  scriptures,   lest   these  truths  might  grow  old,  I  have  eagerly  sought  to 
gather  other  truths  from  other  scriptures  also.       This  keeps  up  the  condition 
of  heat.     I  have  always  run  after   what   is  new,   always   wished  for  new 
acquirements,   new  joys,   new  ideas.     What  is   new  is  warm,  what  is  old  is 
always  cold.    I  have  seen  numbers  of  men   who  were  very   zealous  at  one 
time,   who   never  committed   any   grave  sin,  but  who  at  last  drowned  them- 
selves in  cold  water.    In  dying  they  spread  this  cold  water,  and  killed   others 
also.     Therefore   when  I  have  discovered  any  oldness  or  coldness,  whenever 
I  have  found   my  duties   growing  old,  or  my  prayers  growing  cold,  I  have 
cried  unto  God  "  O  Thou  Merciful,  save   thy   children  from  this  danger." 
And   thus   I  began  my  preparations  for  the  Homa  ceremony,  began  to  pour 
ghee  on  fire,  till  I  found  God  was  the  fiery  Deity,  and  in  calling   upon   Him, 
I  found  fire   floated  up  on  river  and  ocean,   fire  blazed  upon  the   mountains, 
fire  lay  in  the  human  body,  and  new   truths   flashed  from   all  sides.     Am   I 
only  a  sinner  when  I  speak  falsehoods  ?  No.    If  my  prayer  becomes  lifeless  ; 
if  men  lose  their   courage  or  zeal  when  they  hear  what  I  say,  then  also  I  am 
grievously  sinful.     I  have  not  come  to  pour  cold  poison  upon  the    earth  ;  he 
that   does  not  keep  up  his  heat,  may   suffer   destruction  any  day.     I  know 
that  believers  have  calmness  also.    But  whether  it  be  a  fault  or  virtue  in   me, 
I  have  been  at  all  times  fond  of  warmth.     It  is  difficult  for  me  to  be  inactive, 
it  is  impossible  for  me  to  hide  myself  somewhere  away  from  the  community. 
From  head   to   foot   I  am  full  of  fire.     In  this  way  have  I  served,  laboured, 
and  practised  religion.     Those  who  are  cold  are  often   cowardly,   they  run 
away  after  working  five  or  ten  years.     Watch  therefore  whether  or  not  there 
be  still  fire  and  force  in  you.     If  the  desire  of  making  fresh  efforts  fails  you, 
if  there  is  no  joy  in  fresh  activity,  no    enthusiasm   when   you  join   toge- 
ther to  sing   Sankirtan,    send   for  the  physician,   know   you  are  on  the  point 
of  death.     Let  not  your  mouths  ever  utter  the   cold  words   of  despair.     Let 


HABITATION  IN  THE  WILDERNESS  (ASCETICISM).     509 

tli ere  be  so  much  fire  in  you  that  as  soon  as  touched,  your  fingers  may  send 
fire  into  mine.  Let  the  man  of  eighty  have  such  warmth  that  every  word  he 
speaks  may  fire  thousands.  Thus  forever  keep  the  fire  of  energy  and  en- 
thusiasm in  your  hearts. 

Chapter  IV. 

Habitation  in  the  Wilderness  (Asceticism). 

When  I  entered  the  world,  it  was  as  if  I  entered  the  graveyard.  God 
had  appointed  that  the  garden  of  pleasure  should  be  to  me  like  the 
abode  of  death.  The  skilful  heavenly  Artist  who  drew  the  portrait  of  my  life 
first  painted  around  it  a  background  of  deep  intense  black.  In  the  midst  of 
this  black  he  has  brought  out  a  relief  of  brilliant  colouring.  So  it  has  ever 
been.  The  black  and  the  bright  side  by  side  enhances  the  beauty  of  the 
picture.  In  sorrow,  anxiety,  asceticism  my  religious  life  began.  In  my 
eighteenth  year  religion  first  dawned,  but  when  I  was  fourteen  I  left  eating 
meat.  Who  taught  me  that  meat  was  forbidden  ?  One  Guide  I  knew,  him 
I  honored,  and  I  called  him  Conscience.  That  conscience  spoke  to  the  boy, 
and  the  boy  made  his  renunciation.  Asceticism  began  in  my  fourteenth  year. 
And  as  I  grew  in  religion,  I  began  to  pray,  gained  in  moral  enthusiasm,  and 
received  God's  grace,  the  cloud  which  was  no  bigger  than  a  finger  on  my 
life's  sky  grew  exceedingly  dark,  so  dark,  that  it  overcast  my  face,  saddened 
my  heart,  and  at  last  I  had  neither  peace  by  day  nor  by  night.  All  the 
pleasures  which  youth  enjoys  I  shunned  as  poison.  To  Amusement  I  said 
"  thou  art  Satan,  thou  art  sin."  To  Desire  I  said  "  thou  art  hell,  those  who 
touch  thee  fall  into  the  jaws  of  death."  To  my  body  I  said  "Thou  art  the 
road  to  perdition.  I  will  rule  thee,  or  thou  wilt  lead  me  to  death."  I  did 
not  then  know  religion,  I  knew  that  to  be  worldly  was  sinful,  to  be  fond  of 
one's  wife  was  sinful.  The  world  looked  to  me  like  a  poisoned  chalice, 
handsome  without,  dreadful  within.  The  smiling  face  became  morose.  I  took 
farewell  of  all  laughter.  Friends  saw  this,  but  did  not  understand.  My  mind 
said  "  if  you  laugh,  you  will  be  a  sinner."  All  those  books,  and  all  those  friends 
who  were  likely  to  make  me  smile,  I  avoided.  Gradually  I  became  silent,  and 
spoke  very  little.  The  place  in  which  I  lived,  and  the  room  where  I  sat,  I  re- 
garded as  a  charnel  house.  The  noise  which  the  inmates  made  was  to  me  like 
the  howl  of  wild  beasts ;  and  every  scene  of  wickedness  was  like  the  face  of 
death.  True  I  did  not  retire  into  any  wilderness,  but  the  world  was  a  wilder- 
ness to  me.    I  did  not  weep,  but  lived  on  without  a  smile.    Thus  I  rose  from 

65 


510  APPENDIX. 

bed  in  the  morning,  and  thus  I  retired  to  bed  at  night.  Who  was  my  chief 
friend  then  ?  He  among  the  English  poets  who  could  best  describe  this 
melancholy.  I  used  to  read  Young's  "Night  Thoughts."  If  any  book  gave 
me  pleasure,  it  was  that  book.  I  occupied  myself  with  those  things  which 
put  a  painful  pressure  on  the  mind,  keep  it  away  from  evil,  and  make  it  serious. 
All  this  took  place  when  I  was  about  18,  19,  or  20.  I  had  married.  My 
wife  was  coming  to  live  with  me.  I  was  about  to  enter  the  world.  Here 
was  the  prospect  of  danger.  I  thought  thus : — My  soul  is  a  noble  thing. 
Shall  I  subject  it  to  a  wife  ?  Shall  I  subject  it  to  the  world  ?  I  resolved 
never  to  be  over-fond  of  wife,  or  of  the  world,   because  I  knew   that   to  be 

the  cause  of  death  to   many Thus  the  foundation  of  my  life  was  laid  in 

asceticism.  What  is  necessary  for  an  ascetic  life  I  have  got.  The 
gods  and  the  titans  have  fought  in  me,  the  gods  have  gained  the  victory. 
Conscience  and  asceticism,  like  two  brothers,  have  governed  my  life,  and  the 
world  has  never  been  able  to  come  near  me.  And  at  last  that  which  was  the 
cause  of  fear  before,  has  become  friendly.  The  graveyard  in  which  I  first 
built  my  house,  has  now  flowered  and  fructified  into  a  beautiful  garden, 
through  the  middle  of  which  is  the  road  to  God.  No  one  can  now  make 
out  where  the  graveyard  lay.  The  beginning  was  in  sorrow,  the  end  is 
in  joy.  I  cannot  be  counted  among  such  fortunate  persons  as  begin 
their  religious  life  in  smiles.  How  many  calamities  have  passed  over  my 
head !  Unless  thou  turnest  thyself  into  a  corpse,  divine  life  shall  not  enter 
into  thee — this  was  the  law  God  applied  to  my  case.  I  sowed  my  seeds  in 
tears,  I  reap  my  harvest  in  laughter.  This  cannot  be  the  law  for  every  one. 
Each  man  must  follow  the  law  applicable  in  his  own  case.  But  there  is  one 
lesson  in  my  fife  which  may  apply  to  all  men.  Every  great  truth,  great 
deed,  great  deliverance  is  accompanied  by  throes  of  childbirth.  You  shall 
have  to  die  once,  if  thou  shouldst  want  to  live  ever  afterwards.  If  you 
want  to  be  regenerate  and  twice-born,  once  for  all  you  must  retire  into  the 
wilderness.  That  asceticism  which  brings  joy  I  hail.  I  never  desire  forced 
false  asceticism  ;  those  austerities  which  naturally  come,  I  take  up,  and  they 
always  bring  forth  good.  When  black  clouds  form,  we  know  it  will  rain. 
When  asceticism  presents  itself  in  life,  I  also  look  for  a  similar  scientific 
fact.  When  a  new  dispensation  is  about  to  come,  a  new  spiritual  reality 
is  at  hand,  or  or  a  new  discipline  is  to  be  revealed,  then  asceticism  appears 
and  possesses  the  mind.  Forsake  that  asceticism  which  makes  a  display  of 
itself    before  men.     Conceal  asceticism    within    thy  heart,    and  in   external 


INDEPENDENCE.  5  I  I 

things  be  like  other  men.  If  there  is  any  hypocrisy  in  this,  born  ascetics 
like  me  encourage  it.  By  the  commandment  of  God,  to  propagate  my 
religion,  I  live  in  civilized  society,  but  my  mind  is  born  in  the  generation  of 
ascetics.  Value  asceticism  for  the  sake  of  spirituality  ;  it  has  done  much 
good  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj. 

Chapter  V.    Independence. 

Subjection  poisons  the  world,  it  is  the  cause  of  heaps  of  unholy  trouble. 
I  cannot  say  why  from  the  beginning  I  was  disgusted  with  dependence. 
Men  try  to  govern  their  anger,  their  lustfulness,  and  all  their  other  passions, 
but  few  make  violent  efforts  to  escape  from  the  evil  of  subjection.  Why 
God  implanted  in  me  such  deep  hatred  of  this  evil  I  could  not  determine. 
I  did  not  calculate  the  effects  of  this  feeling,  only  I  had  the  sense  that  all 
subjection  was  sin,  and  enmity  unto  God.  Therefore  up  to  this  day  I  have 
never  bent  my  head  before  any  man.  I  have  had  to  suffer  much  for  this,  but 
have  never  forsaken  my  vow.  I  have  ever  clung  to  that  liberty  which 
is  as  unchangeable  as  the  rocks.  I  know  it  is  not  easy  to  be  true  to  this 
resolution.  There  was  deep  meaning  in  this  resolution.  Out  of  the  sense  of 
independence  the  New  Dispensation  was  to  be  born,  all  sorts  of  prejudice  and 
ignorance  were  to  die,  and  the  glory  of  truth  to  shine.  Independence  was  my 
primeval  motto.  I  will  not  fall  at  the  feet  of  any  man,  never  sell  myself  to 
my  superiors,  never  be  a  slave  to  any  book,  and  never  pepetually  sing  the 
praise  of  any  particular  sect.  As  on  one  hand  I  resolved  not  to  do  all  this, 
so  on  the  other  I  resolved  never  to  submit  to  self-will,  or  to  pride,  never  to 
be  untrue  to  the  vows  which  I  took  in  the  presence  of  God.  While  this  inde- 
pendence grew  in  me  I  saw  idolatry  and  caste  reigning  on  all  sides,  and 
directly  I  determined  to  cut  away  their  bonds.  When  I  saw  men  enslaved 
by  their  desires  and  passions,  I  could  never  rest  quiet.  My  weapons 
were  kept  always  sharp  to  cut  away  the  slavery.  Some  say  "  submit  to  thy 
preceptor" — my  mind  becomes  sorely  afraid  at  that.  My  mind  is  equally 
afraid  to  submit  to  parents,  or  to  friends  with  whom  religion  has  united  me. 
My  greatest  friends  saw  I  loved  them,  but  was  not  fettered  by  undue  fondness. 
I  would  never  do  even  what  is  good  when  men  tell  me.  But  what  I  would 
never  do  by  man's  word,  I  would  eagerly  do  at  the  word  of  God.  Until  I 
hear  the  voice  of  God  I  will  never  begin  any  undertaking.  This  kind  of 
determination  may  be  dangerous  to  other  men,  but  I  am  fortunate  it  never 
did  me  any  harm.     My  independence,  however,  is  not  the  self-will  based  upon 


512  APPENDIX. 

pride  which  is  to  be  bought  in  the  market  of  worldliness.  I  did  not  seek 
independence  to  exalt  myself,  or  to  attain  a  high  place  among  men.  I  loved 
independence,  but  was  not  enslaved  by  it.  If  I  subjected  myself  to  men, 
hundreds  would  have  joined  my  party  to-day.  If  I  subjected  men  to  me  by 
any  false  fascination,  my  party  to-day  would  have  been  crowded.  But  I  have 
made  independence  the  captain  of  my  band.  Therefore  I  call  those  who  are 
with  me  my  friends,  I  never  call  myself  their  guru  or  master.  Liberty  shall 
triumph.  Truth  shall  triumph  !  When  Independence  calls  men,  if  any  want 
to  come  let  them  come.  I  will  never  set  myself  as  a  guide  unto  others.  Let 
there  be  no  guruism.  I  abhor  subjection.  And  what  I  hate  in  myself,  do  I 
not  hate  in  others  ?  I  cannot  bear  to  see  any  one,  even  the  least  in  my 
church,  depend  upon  another  ;  and  it  is  exceedingly  unbearable  to  me  to 
see  any  one  depending  upon  myself.  Do  you  remember  I  have  ever  been  a 
slave  to  anybody,  then  why  should  you  be  slaves  ?  If  he  who  has  never  been 
a  slave  himself  should  try  to  make  another  his  slave,  or  feel  happy  at 
another's  slavery,  is  he  not  a  sinner  and  a  hypocrite  ?  If  I  fail  to  create  any 
community,  if  I  fail  to  draw  any  man  to  my  side,  better  that  than  that  I 
should  enslave  a  man's  soul.  I  am  not  a  guru,  I  have  never  tried  to 
enslave  men.  I  have  always  been,  and  I  am  still  a  learner.  If  there  are  fifty 
men  in  my  party,  they  are  of  fifty  different  kinds.  Truth  is  my  witness,  the 
sun  and  the  moon  are  my  witnesses,  if  there  be  a  hundred  men  present  here, 
eaeh  of  them  is  his  own  chief.  Every  one  will  have  to  acknowledge  this 
now,  every  one  will  have  to  acknowledge  it  when  I  am  gone.  I  have  wished 
to  grind  no  man  in  my  mill,  but  wanted  to  see  every  one  free.  I  have  taught 
no  one  to  call  man  his  guru,  or  his  governor,  but  look  upon  God  as  the 
only  guide.  I  have  given  glory  to  the  most  revered  Jesus.  I  have  abundant- 
ly loved  Chaitanya.  But  I  have  never  made  them  the  ideals  of  my  life.  If 
you  want  to  charge  me  with  vanity,  you  can  do  so.  But  I  have  never  made 
man,  and  never  shall  make  man  the  model  of  my  life.  No  man  can  be  the 
supreme  model  to  man.  Where  Christ's  light  does  not  reach,  God's  light 
reacheth.  There  is  no  book  which  contains  all  wisdom,  therefore  I  have  made 
no  book  my  standard  of  religion.  Who  loves  the  sons  of  God  more  than  I 
do  ?  Yet  I  will  never  dishonour  God  by  making  them  the  ideals  of  my  life.  I 
love  the  tiger  skin  (as  carpet  during  devotions),  I  love  the  ektara,  but  if  I 
become  too  fond  of  them,  they  will  become  divine  to  me.  Therefore  I  use 
them  to-day,  renounce  them  to-morrow.  In  the  New  Dispensation  there  is 
perfect  liberty  for  every  man.     Who  is  the   preceptor,    what  is   the   Brahmo 


THE  VOICE  OF  GOD.  513 

Somaj,  where  is  my  party  among  Brahmos  ?  I  am  attached  to  nothing,  to 
nobody,  I  care  only  for  the  substance.  If  it  be  neeessary  I  can  renounce 
every  kind  of  name,  but  the  substance  I  cannot  renounce.  Therefore  there 
is  no  agreement  between  me  and  anybody.  May  God  bless  me  and  my 
brethren,  that  there  may  be  perfect  independence  amongst  as.  By  that 
only  will  our  numbers  increase.  By  that  you  shall  be  what  you  ought  to  be. 
Put  away  on  one  side  all  sins  and  superstitions,  and  on  the  other  side  put 
away  all  self-will,  vanity,  and  pride,  then  hurl  your  weapons  of  independence 
against  both.  Our  dependence  is  upon  the  Lord,  and  therefore  we  are 
entirely  free. 

Chapter  VI.    The  Voice  of  God. 

If  there  be  a  voice  speaking  from  inside  the  heart,  men  usually  call  it 
a  ghost.  He  that  is  possessed  by  a  ghost  hears  voices  within  and  outside 
himself.  From  the  dawn  of  religious  life  I  have  heard  such  voices,  both 
inside  and  outside.  Yet  I  never  have  taken  them  to  be  ghosts.  This  is  another 
peculiarity  of  my  life.  In  many  instances  have  I  found  there  is  a  person  within 
the  person,  there  is  a  tongue  within  the  tongue,  and  they  talk  in  different 
voices,  and  the  voices  can  be  distinguished  by  the  ear.  Men  talk,  reflect, 
judge,  and  then  learn  religious  truths.  I  have  often  confessed  I  came  not  to 
the  path  of  religion  by  this  process.  But  within  the  "  I,"  there  is  a  "  Thou," 
separate  from  myself.  That  called  out  to  me  ;  that  I  perceive  ;  and  by  his 
word  I  want  to  practise  religion.  That  there  is  this  Some  One  speaking 
within  the  heart  is  a  truth  of  repeated  experience.  I  know  there 
are  people  who  do  not  hear  this  voice.  And  it  is  also  said  that  this  kind 
of  hearing  gives  rise  to  superstition,  it  does  harm,  it  is  supernatural- 
ism,  and  those  who  believe  it  are  mad  men.  If  this  be  madness  I  wish 
to  be  counted  among  the  mad  ;  it  is  the  madness  of  faith,  it  is  the 
lunacy  of  salvation,  because  I  do  not  call  it  the  voice  of  a  ghost,  but  the 
voice  of  God.  I  can  never  disbelieve  this  voice.  Whenever  I  heard  this 
speech  of  the  invisible  living  Person,  I  instantly  made  out  it  was  not  the 
speaking  of  friends  or  relatives,  nor  my  own  voice,  not  a  truth  learnt  in  some 
book,  nor  a  memory  of  the  past,  nor  a  picture  painted  by  imagination.  It  is 
God  who  commands  me  to  leave  some  sin,  or  practise  some  virtue,  to  undertake 
some  new  duty,  or  travel  into  some  new  country.  The  intellect  has  often 
exercised  itself,  taken  many  means,  but  failed  to  silence  this  voice.  A  man 
may  feel  his  own  greatness,  feel  that  he  knows,  acts,  and  what  he  does  will  be 


514  APPENDIX. 

remembered  by  all.  But  a  man  may  also  feel  that  though  he  by  his  own 
intelligence  has  done  much,  there  are  certain  things,  certain  actions 
which  do  not  belong  to  him,  but  to  Another  who  speaks  from  within.  As  I 
myself  have  a  mind  and  certain  sentiments,  so  too  He  has.  I  have 
my  conclusions,  He  has  his.  The  one  is  the  creature  soul,  the  other  is  the 
Supreme  Soul.  The  two  are  separate.  To  the  same  substantive  Soul  the 
two  adjectives  "Creature"  and  "Supreme"  are  applied.  The  creature 
speaks  within  the  soul,  the  supreme  also  speaks  within  the  soul.  It  re- 
quires a  disciplined  ear  to  distinguish  the  two.  All  that  is  good  belongs 
to  God,  all  that  is  bad  is  mine.  This  thought  constantly  practised  clears  the 
difference  between  self  and  God.  Give  the  glory  to  God,  take  all  the  shame 
to  thyself.  Some  realize  this  distinction  naturally.  To  those  who  realize  it  by 
nature,  the  voice  of  God  is  most  constantly  audible. Like  a  thunderclap  the 
voice  of  God  shakes  their  whole  being ;  where  faith  is  strong,  there  the  tones  of 
both  the  persons  can  be  heard,  there  all  good  results  follow.  It  is  clearly 
distinguished  this  is  mine,  this  is  His.  My  own  tastes  tell  me  to  drink  wine, 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh  ;  the  other  voice  tells  me  follow  God's  ways 
whether  they  lead  to  ragged  garments,  or  renunciation  of  everything.  My 
own  judgment  complains  that  asceticism  enjoins  painful  diet ;  but  the 
Higher  Judgment  decides  that  my  intellect  shall  not  be  my  guide.  "  When 
I  command,  the  path  of  darkness  is  best  for  thee,  and  thou  shalt  have  to 
walk  it  even  though  there  be  a  hundred  emissaries  of  death."  In  the  life  of 
this  humble  man  such  experiences  have  happened.  When  my  own  mind 
has  apprehended  poverty,  ill-health,  insult,  calumny,  within  my  heart  I 
have  heard  "Fear  not!"  Putting  my  faith  in  these  inward  whispers  I  said 
"Whether  I  live  or  die,  Lord  to  thy  feet  I  will  cling."  Thus  have  I  repeatedly 
forsaken  friends  and  relatives,  and  encountered  serious  troubles.  The  more 
I  have  advanced  in  Yoga,  the  more  I  have  studied  the  science  of  mind,  and 
penetrated  into  myself,  the  more  I  have  perceived  that  the  mansion  of  man's 
nature  is  two-storied,  the  creature  is  below,  the  Supreme  is  above.  On  the 
tree  of  life  there  are  two  birds,  one  is  the  creature  soul,  the  other  is  the 
Supreme  Soul.  If  I  cut  the  organ  of  speech  in  man,  I  see  two  parts  in  it  ; 
one  utters  the  Vedas  and  Vedanta,  the  other  utters  the  counsels  of  death. 
The  carnal  tongue  speaketh  vanities ;  the  spiritual  tongue  speaketh  forth 
the  glories  of  God.  Try  and  you  shall  hear  the  sweet  speech  of  the  Spirit. 
I  wish  to  be  a  great  man  by  learning,  wealth,  and  religious  accomplishments. 
But  there  is  one  inside  my  heart  before  whom  I  am  only  a  servant,  a  bondsman. 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  BHAKTI.  515 

Before  that  ocean  I  am  only  a  little  pond  ;  before  that  vast  sun  I  am  only  a  poor 
oil  lamp  ;  before  that  great  palace,  I  am  only  a  small  hut.  This  voice  I  heard 
in  the  day,  I  heard  it  in  the  night.  It  grows  every  day  more  and  more  solemn 
within  me.  I  was  in  great  trouble.  I  wanted  to  go  right,  it  turned  me  to 
the  left.  I  cried  out  for  light,  it  cried  out  for  darkness.  I  was  obliged  either 
to  recognize  it  as  the  word  of  God,  or  the  counsel  of  seven  hundred  devils 
that  tormented  me,  and  made  me  despair  of  future  happiness.  Never  mis- 
take the  word  of  God  to  be  your  own  device.  Because  some  men  have  been 
misled  by  taking  this  path,  that  is  no  reason  why  I  should  leave  it.  People 
may  argue  that  "  whenever  you  have  certain  desires  and  evil  passions,  you 
may  claim  sanction  for  them  from  the  voice  of  God,  and  thus  walk  unharmed 
in  the  ways  of  vice."  Because  some  men  have  been  deceivers  I  can 
leave  the  path  of  virtue.  During  these  twenty  years  how  many  times  have 
I  heard,  and  how  many  things  I  have  heard,  but  I  have  never  been  deceived. 
I  see  the  creature  soul,  and  the  Supreme  Soul  mixed  in  the  same  cup.  I 
never  believe  that  He  is  in  the  skies,  and  I  am  cast  away  on  the  earth.  I 
see  a  Hand  within  my  hand,  a  Tongue  within  my  tongue,  a  Breath  of  life 
within  me.  When  I  listen  in  faith,  and  feel  the  tongue  moving,  I  watch 
whether  both  the  tongues  move.  If  the  sinful  tongue  moves  alone,  I  want  to 
cut  it  away — O  tongue  of  God  speak  thou !  I  repudiate  the  opinion  of 
those  who  call  this  mere  fancy.  There  is  no  uncertainty  here  ;  if  there  were 
I  should  not  utter  it  from  this  holy  pulpit.  Are  the  creature  and  God 
then  one  ?  No.  The  two  tribunals  are  always  open  and  separate.  The 
decisions  of  the  one  are  often  reversed  and  crushed  in  the  other.  I  am 
therefore  a  dualist.  I  see  two  judges,  one  my  own  soul,  the  other  who  guides 
my  soul.  When  I  speak,  my  meaning  is  spiritually  uttered,  and  not  by  the 
tongue.  So  when  He  speaks  his  utterances  are  spiritual,  not  through  the 
fleshly  tongue.  The  words  of  the  soul  are  not  like  the  sounds  of  the  wires 
of  brass  or  iron,  not  like  the  song  of  the  bird,  or  the  murmur  of  the  brook ; 
yet  they  are  exceedingly  soft  and  wonderful.  That  ear  can  distinguish 
them  to  whom  God  has  given  the  power.  May  I  have  increasing  faith  in  the 
word  of  God,  and  may  you  too  have  faith  in  it  unto  your  salvation. 

Chapter  VII.    The  Beginnings  of  Bhakti. 

O  reader,  the  scriptures  of  my  life  are  the  scriptures  of  hope.  Because 
I  did  not  bring  with  me  into  the  world  everything  I  possess.  When  you  hear 
the  account  of  the  truths  I  have  acquired  by  spiritual  effort  and  experience, 


516  APPENDIX. 

your  hearts  cannot  fail  to  be  inspired  with  hope.  In  this  life  there  has 
been  a  side  of  weakness  and  darkness  of  which  when  you  know,  those  amongst 
you  who  are  despairing  shall  gain  courage  thereby.  There  was  no  love  of 
God  in  this  life  of  mine  at  first,  nay  there  was  little  love  or  passion  of  any 
kind.  I  had  faith,  I  had  conscience,  I  had  asceticism,  and  with  these  I 
descended  into  the  scene  of  action.  These  gifts  are  most  valuable,  they  are 
excellent,  to  men  in  certain  conditions  they  are  most  rare,  but  all  these  three 
are  dry.  Into  a  life  that  began  with  such  a  drought,  how  did  the  waters  of 
Bhakti  enter  ?  There  was  no  hope  of  this,  nor  even  did  the  necessity  of  such 
a  thing  occur  to  my  mind  at  first.  I  had  the  contentment  of  conscience,  not 
the  joy  of  love.  I  had  no  hope  of  entering  into  the  company  of  joyful 
worshippers.  Though  some  friends  gave  me  the  title  of  Brahmananda 
(Rejoicer  in  God)  my  heart  did  not  respond  to  it,  I  did  not  think  I  was 
worthy  of  this  title.  In  the  midst  of  my  austere  ideas  I  continually  said  to 
myself  "  renounce  this,  renounce  that,  mortify  thy  senses,  put  forth  thy 
energy,  preach  unidolatrous  monotheism."  But  the  nectar  of  peace,  the 
nectar  of  the  love  of  God  I  had  not  tasted.  I  looked  up  to  the  Father, 
but  the  inner  mansions  of  the  Mother  had  never  been  opened  to  me,  and 
no  one  had  told  me  the  way  to  them.  There  was  no  poetry  in  my  heart 
in  those  days.  The  supremacy  of  conscience  was  the  prevailing  character- 
istic of  Brahmos  at  that  time.  One  man's  character  was  reproduced  in 
the  character  of  many ;  and  at  first  five,  then  ten,  then  fifty,  then  a 
hundred  youths  were  fired  with  the  same  ambition.  There  was  no  khole, 
no  sankirtan.  That  which  was  not  within  me,  was  not  suggested  to  me 
from  without.  Within  and  without  there  was  harsh  obedience  to  conscience 
and  to  faith.  The  sands  of  the  desert  seemed  to  fly  on  every  side.  How  long 
could  I  go  on  like  this  ?  I  felt  it  was  not  right.  And  as  soon  as  the  least 
sentiment  of  Bhakti  showed  itself  in  my  heart,  some  one  from  within 
brought  me  before  the  altar  of  the  God  of  love.  There  was  a  change  ;  I 
perceived  what  I  had  not  before,  I  possessed.  And  now  so  great  is  my 
love,  that  I  cannot  say  whether  in  me  conscience  is  stronger  or  Bhakti, 
whether  I  have  greater  joy,  or  asceticism.  I  feel  now  that  love  has  become 
my  nature.  Some  philosophers  say  what  did  not  exist  in  nature  before, 
cannot  be  acquired  afterwards.  He  who  has  no  emotion,  or  no  faith  in  his 
constitution  can  never  attain  it  by  culture.  But  in  my  case  I  can  say  I  began 
religion  with  fear  and  trembling,  but  am  now  immersed  in  joy.  First  hard- 
ness, afterwards  tenderness,  the  Father  first,  the  Mother  afterwards.     At  first 


SHAME    A.ND    FEAR.  517 

the  name  of  God  was  only  one  name,  into  how  many  hundred  names  has 
it  now  been  transformed.  If  the  impracticable  has  become  practicable  in 
the  case  of  one  man,  why  should  it  not  be  in  the  cases  of  many  ?  Into  how 
many  forms  of  beauty  is  the  Mother's  nature  manifested  to  me  ;  how  many 
beautiful  sentiments  are  still  coming  ?  These  are  the  days  of  fresh  acquire- 
ment. What  we  had  not,  we  have  now ;  what  we  had  we  have  got  in 
greater  abundance  ;  and  what  we  have  not  now  we  are  sure  to  get  in  time. 

Chapter  VIII.    Shame  and  Fear. 

For  a  long  time,  this  life  has  been  the  slave  of  shame  and  fear.     As  other 
propensities,  so  also  shame   and   fear  have   tyrannised   over  me,  and  even 
now   the  tyranny   is   not   over.     I   have   not  willingly   acknowledged   these 
masters.      Of  good   and  devout   men   fear  and   shame  are   enemies.      As 
other  bondages  have   to   be   severed,    so  their  bonds  too  ought  to  be  cut 
away.     But  whether  it  be  for  want  of  spiritual  culture,  or  for  natural  weakness 
the   shame   and   fear   of  men   are  still  in  me.     Even  if  I  try  I  cannot  get  rid 
of  them.     At  every  step  I  meet  them,  I  feel  I  am  in   their  power.     Shame 
and  fear  have  no  doubt  their  province.     God  has  removed  them  in  my  case 
from   the    province   of  religious  life,    but  allowed    them    to  remain  in   my 
worldly  life.    As  spiritual  power  grew  in  me,  as  conscience  became  strong, 
faith  increased,  and  prayers  and  devotions  gave  me   greater  love   of    God,   I 
felt   there  was  no  religious  denomination  of  whom  I  need  be  afraid.     In  the 
very  morning  of  my  life  I  felt  man  was  a  vanity.     Shame  and  fear   decreased 
in  my  character  as  piety  grew.     But  I  repeat  this  was  in  my  religious  life, 
not  in  my  worldly  life.     Where  I  do  not  hear  the   voice   of    God,    the   com- 
mandment  of  duty,  there  my  two  ancient  enemies  draw  me  into  their  power. 
When  in   this   state   the  whole  aspect   of    my   face    changes,    and    I    am 
afraid   and   ashamed   to   mix   with  men.     This  same  head  that  is  lifted  up  in 
courage  to  magnify  the  name  of  the   Lord,  is  brought  down  in   the   presence 
of  very  ordinary  men.     Perhaps  I  was  sent  to  the  world  with  a  natural  weak . 
ness   and    shyness   of  disposition.     Every  time  I  am  thus  afraid  and  ashamed 
I  become  miserable.     Whom  do  I  fear  ?    Even  of  coolies  in  the  street,  even 
of    men  whom  you  call  mean  and  ignorant,  I  am  afraid.     But  when  I  see  the 
learned  my  heart  fails  me  altogether  in  their  company,  and  says  "  thou  art  not 
fit   to   enter   the   durbar   of  the  wise."     Naturally  I  keep  behind.     When  I 
see  the  rich,  or  men  honoured  for  their  rank,  I  have  the  same  kind  of  feeling. 
Three  kinds  of  men  I  cannot  easily  approach,  the  rich,  the   famous,   and  the 

66 


5 1 8  APPENDIX. 

learned.     Duty   says  go,   therefore   I  go.     Duty  further  commands  me   to 
speak    in    public,    therefore    I    speak.     Where  I  do  not   hear  that  com- 
mandment,  and   begin  to  reflect,  my  hands  and  feet  lose  their  firmness,  and 
my  eyes  close  of  themselves.     If  I  try  to  speak  I  fear   I  will  make  mistakes 
in  grammar.     The  thought  comes  into  my  mind   "  O  when  will  this  meeting 
end,  when  shall   I  go   back   to   my  old   familiar  company,    to  my  humble 
friends  !  "     Then  I  reflect  why  these   are  but  men,  I  am  also  a  man.     Even 
if  I  make  mistakes   will  they  not   forgive   me  ?    Will  they  insult  me,  kill 
me,   shove   me   out   by   the  neck  ?    That   is  not  likely.     The  learned  may 
say  you  have  read   nothing,  you  are    not    fit    for    learned    society,    you 
may  give  religious  precepts,   but   where'  men  of  erudition  meet  each  other, 
what  right  have  you   to   be   there  ?    Not   that   I  have   never  been  in  such 
assemblies,   nor  that  I  have  been   there  very  rarely.     I   have   gone  many 
times,  and  many  times   have   I  been  treated  with   respect.     But   my  fear 
is    that   so   long   this   might   have   been  out   of  the  chance   of  mistake,    it 
may  not  be   so   again.     I  fear  to  sit  alone  even  in  my  own  house.     I  cannot 
think   of  travelling   unattended,   wherever   I  have   gone    to   do  anything,   I 
have  gone  with  others.     My  mind  says  that  a  man  of  my  nature  ought  never 
to  be  alone.     Is  a  God-fearing  man  ever   afraid  ?     But   I   feel   all   this   fear 
in   the  vacant   ground  of  the   world,   here   there  are    wild   animals,   many 
enemies  ready   to   attack   me,    therefore   like  little  children    I    am   afraid. 
I  see   men  coming   to  visit   me,   I  feel  inclined  to  run  away.     I  cannot   say 
"how  do  you  do,"  I  can  not  look  them  in  the  face.     If  they   do  not   speak 
first,  my  alarm  becomes  all  the  greater.     If  great  men  of  the  world  happen 
to  come,  I  think  whether  I  cannot  make  a  timely  retreat,  I  fail   even  to  wel- 
come my  own  brethren.     I  am  judged  therefore  to  be  a  vain  man,  conceited 
on  account  of  my  religiousness  ;  many  hard  things  are  said  of  me.     My  own 
judgment  says  I  am  wrong.     But  I  cannot  wash  this  nature  of  mine  out  of  its 
weaknesses.     I  have  at  last  concluded  that  in  the  religious  world  I  am  to  be 
always  on  the  bosom  of  God,  and  in  the  world  under  the  protection  of  some 
guardian  or  friend.     I  have  constantly  felt  the   need  of  a  faithful   friend  who 
will  always  speak  for  me  in  the  world.     Thus  on  one  side  there  is  so  much  fear 
and  shame.     But  on  the  side  of  religion  I  roar  like  a   lion.     There   I  fear 
no   man,   and  never   shall.     When    my   religion   demands   it   I    am   devoid 
of  shame,    I   can   stand    up    and    dance,    a    thing   I  could  never  do  before 
if  I   tried   for  ten  years  together.     Let  men  call  me  vulgar,  if  they  will,  I  am 
prepared  for  that.     On  the  roadside,  and    on   the   riverside    time    and   again 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  YOGA.  5 19 

I  have  repeatedly  done  things  in  utter  defiance  of  shame.  Here  fear 
and  shame  have  I  cut  to  pieces.  When  I  have  to  preach  unpopular  truths, 
I  forget  all  fear  and  shame.  I  will  utter  them  before  great  men  and  rajahs. 
Why  then,  am  I  afraid  and  ashamed  elsewhere  ?  I  cannot  say.  A  lion 
at  one  place,  a  lamb  at  another.  At  times  and  places  dreadful  shame  and 
fear ;  at  times  and  places  dreadful  fearlessness  and  shamelessness. 

Chapter  IX.  The  Beginnings  of  Yoga. 

As  Bhakti,   the  love  of  God,    has   been   with   me   an  acquired   virtue, 
so   also  Yoga,    union   with   the  spirit    of  God.      In   the  early  days   of  my 
religious  life  I  did  not  know  what  Yoga  was,  never  heard  its  name,  and  never 
thought  I  should  have  to  cultivate  it.     The  subject  of  Yoga  had  not  then 
arisen  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  the  duty  of  practising  it  could  not  be  traced 
in  any  book  written  at   that  time.     Years  passed  away  in   the  pursuit  of 
truth,  in  the  discipline  of  asceticism,   and  by  the  grace  of  God  at  last  Bhakti 
presented  itself  in  my  heart.     This  Bhakti  was  in  course  of  time  turned  into 
inebriation  in  God's  love.     As  the  love  of  God  grew  in  me,  I  felt  however 
that  to  make  it  permanent  it   was  necessary   to  have   Yoga.     The  intense 
excitement  of  devotional  feeling  may  last  for  a  little  while,  but  to  secure  the 
permanence  of  such  feeling  it  was  necessaiy  to  have  union  with  the   Divine 
Spirit.     If  you  have  faith  in  God,  you  must  be  one  with  Him.     The  heart 
should  be  the  lover  of  God,  the  eye  should  behold  the  spirit  of  God  in  every- 
thing.    Bhakti  and  Yoga  thus  both  presented  themselves  in  my  view,  and  I 
felt  the  desire  of  cultivating  them.     When  the  lights  and  colors  of  the  love  of 
God  were  first  seen,   hundreds  were  illumined  thereby,   my  brethren  and 
friends  took  up   the  khole,  shed  tears  of  devotion,  and  were  full  of  devotional 
spirit.     They  heard  enough  of  Bhakti.     But   Yoga  did  not   grow  so  easily. 
Its  doctrines  are  difficult,  its  practice  is  difficult,  it  is  altogether  difficult  for 
any  one  to   understand   it.     And  if  any  one  should  acquire   this   rare   gift, 
it  is  difficult  to  communicate  it   to  others.     Bhakti  soon  spreads  from  one 
to  many,  but  if  there  are  in  all  five  men  in  a   country  who  have  practised 
Yoga,  it  is  enough.     When  I  felt  its  want  in  my  life,  I  felt  that  faith,   love, 
asceticism  were  all  vain,  if  I  did  not  acquire  union  with  God.     I  was  not  led 
to  it  by  the  precept  of  any  man.     As  the  grace  of  God  descended  to   me  in 
the  shape  of  Bhakti,  so  some  wind  that  blew  from  another  direction  brought 
to  me  Yoga.     When  I  got  both  I  could  distinguish  the  one  as  Bhakti,  and 
the  other  as  Yoga.     The  one  sweetened  my  spiritual  union  with  God,  the 


520  APPENDIX. 

other  turned  my  devotions  into  reverence  and    awe.     The   one  is  my  sister, 
the  other  my  brother.     The  one    served  to  establish  my  love  of  God  on  the 
ground  of  faith,  the  other   served   to  shed  the  waters   of  sweetness  on  my 
spiritual  union.     Otherwise  perhaps  Yoga  would  have  led  me  to  pantheism, 
and   Bhakti    begotten  superstitions.     But  now  I  planted  the  garden  of  God's 
love  on   the  mountains   of  spiritual  union.     That  garden   is   not   made   of 
dreams  and  imaginations,  because  it  is  built  on  the  hard  rock.    The  two  unions 
made  a  grand  union,  and  it  produced  its  natural  effects.     I  judged  myself  very 
fortunate  in  this,    because   in   our  country  men  by  cultivating  hard  spiritual 
communion  have  often  fallen  into   the   dreadful  vortex   of  pantheism,   and 
excited  by  the  impulses  of  devotional  feeling  have  become  superstitious.     But 
in  the  present  case  the  one  cleared   my  power  of  vision,  and   the  other  made 
my  heart  overflow.    In  woods,  in  waters,  in  fruits,  in  flowers,  in  wind,  in  fire  I 
saw  the  great  Substance  God.     And  He  whom  as  substance  I  behold  in  every- 
thing, I   realize  as  the  exceedingly  Beautiful  One.     He  whose  beginning  is  in 
Reality,  has  His  end  in  Beauty.     The  union  of  these  two  has  saved  me  from 
much  sin  and  error.     "Where  I  at  first  saw  only  wood  or  earth,  I  now  see  not 
only  that  but  much  more.     I  pursued  my  culture  with  open  eyes,  and  beheld 
that   concentrated   in   everything  there  lived  the  essence  of  God.     What  is 
Yoga  ?  Such  intimate  union  with  the    indwelling  spirit   of   God    that   the 
instant  any  object   is  perceived,  God  is  perceived  in  it.     The  sky  is  no  longer 
the   mere   sky,  but  the  expanse  of  Intelligence  spreads  through  it,  shining  in 
its  brilliant  unity  everywhere,  one  Force  presenting   its   hard    solidity   in   all 
things.     Like   a   blazing  fire  I  behold  God  on  all  sides,  like  a  blowing  storm 
I  feel  Him    pressing    upon   my   flesh    and  blood.     I   felt    the    Spirit   to   be 
near,    I  went  still  nearer,  I  touched  the  Spirit,  I  became  one  with  the  Spirit, 
thus  my  Yoga  became  deeper  and  deeper.     There  are  degrees  in  such  union, 
it   may   be    for   an  instant,  for  an  hour,  or  as  often  as  I  want.     "Without  any 
guide,  without  any  precept,  I  continued  my  efforts.     At  first  I   saw   Him   as 
a   flash  of   lightning,   then  as  always  glimmering  in  the  heart.     Now  when- 
ever I  desire  I  can  behold  Him.     As  whenever  you  strike  the  flint    the  spark 
flies   out,   so  any  instant  the  fire  of  God's  presence  may  be  struck  out  of  my 
body  ;  my  tongue,  my  hands,  fingers  all    give  out   the   same  sparks.     Many 
times   have   I    tried    this  experiment,  and  invariably  my  God  has  successfully 
come  out  of  the  trial.     Is  such  union  possible  without   love  ?    Loving  union 
is   a   sweet  union.     I  have  practised  it,  I  am  immersed  in  it,  I  have  sung  to 
it  with  the  accompaniment  of  the  ektara  ;  and  in    the  joint  music   one   note 


THE  WONDERFUL  ARITHMETIC   (FAITH).  52 1 

is  Bhakti ;  and  the  other  is  Yoga.  At  first  it  was  dry,  if  I  shut  my  eyes  I 
saw  darkness.  Now  as  soon  as  I  call  upon  God,  He  reveals  himself.  Now 
I  may  doubt  whether  I  exist  or  not,  but  my  faith  in  God  can  not  be  doubted. 
The  spirit  of  God  and  my  own  self  are  now  woven  together.  The  two 
objects  have  united  into  one,  and  the  one  cannot  be  denied  without  denying 
the  other.     Such  is  the  gospel  of  hope  I  have  to  preach. 

Chapter  X.    The  Wonderful  Arithmetic  (Faith). 
The    arithmetic   which    guides   the    world   I   have   never   accepted,    it   is 
opposed  to  the  very  rudiments   of  what  I   believe.     I   have   my  own    arith- 
metic  of    which   I   well    understand    the    principles,    and    can   explain   to 
devotees.     These  principles  are  very  exact,  though  men  will  not  accept  them. 
The  whole  century   will  pass,    yet  they  will  not  be  accepted-     The  manners 
and  customs  of  the  country  from  which  I  come  do  not    agree  with  those  you 
see   here.     As   the   people   of  the    country  here  are  partial  to  their  customs, 
so  the  people  of  my  country  are  partial  to   ours.     Who   does  not  wish  to 
glorify   his  own  land  ?  O  mankind  if  you  have  improved  the  laws  and  usages 
of  your  country,  and  want  to  explain  the  same  to  others,    give  me  the  right 
of   doing  the  same  in  regard  to  my  country  zealously.     Because  our  laws  are 
not  inferior,  but  superior  to  yours.     Nay  admit  at  least,    that   they  ought   to 
be  heard   and   discussed  for   awhile.    Wonderful  is  our  arithmetic,  though 
men  imagine  they  see  a  great  deal  of  untruth   in   it,    and    regard   those   who 
practise  it   as   fools    and  madmen.     But    still   my    mouth  shall  not  stop,  but 
declare  the  wonder    of  our   calculations.     According   to   our  opinion   if  you 
take  three  out  of  five,  the  remainder  is  seventeen.     And  if  a  man  will  practise 
religion    in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  rules  of  this  arithmetic,  he  is  never 
a  loser,  but  always  a  gainer.     It  is  by  such  practice  alone  that   I   have   been 
able  to    plant    the  banner  of  victory  before  numerous  enemies.     Whenever  I 
have  said  five  and  three  make  eight  I  have  lost ;  but  whenever  I  have  said  that 
if  you    deduct  much  out  of  little,  a  very  large  quantity  remains,  there  I  have 
triumphed.   I   felt   a  building  had  to  be  raised,  immediately  it  arose,  the  walls 
were  built  up  high,  the  pictures  were  hung,    and  the   foundations   were   laid 
last   of    all.     Such   is   the    law    and   usage  of  our  land.     Those  who  lay  the 
foundations  first,  and  then  begin   to   build,   we    call  them  foolish,    and  know 
they   will   never   succeed.     If    I   find   any   one   saying  "  how  can  we  build  a 
temple,  until   funds   are    provided,"  I    at   once   decide    this   man   will  never 
build  anything.      When  we   want   a  house   we   say   "  O  Lord  we  would 


522  APPENDIX. 

build  a  house  unto  thee."  Immediately  the  house  rises  four  stories  high, 
and  as  it  rises,  money  pours  in.  Be  not  anxious  before  you  commence  an 
undertaking,  be  not  anxious  after  it  has  commenced.  Never  have  any 
anxiety  either  in  the  beginning,  middle,  or  end,  but  do  God's  work  by  God's 
commandment  alone.  A  child  has  to  be  given  in  marriage,  five  hundred  or 
five  thousand  rupees  are  wanted.  The  fool  of  this  world  is  troubled  as  to 
how  he  will  procure  the  money.  Reflections,  and  calculations,  and  dis- 
cussions come  and  go,  his  whole  head  is  I  sick  with  the  thought,  years  pass, 
and  still  there  is  no  sign  of  the  marriage.  Men  of  our  country  under  the 
same  circumstance  look  heavenwards,  and  ask  "  O  Lord  is  this  daughter  of 
thine  to  be  married  ?"  "Yes.  The  date  is  fixed  on  the  5th  of  September." 
The  devotee  at  once  begins  to  work  at  it  with  the  implements  of  con- 
science and  asceticism.  In  due  season  the  marriage  takes  place,  and 
there  is  no  hitch  whatsoever.  There  was  no  man  to  marry  her  to,  there 
was  no  money ;  both  the  man  and  the  money  came,  and  the  believer 
of  God  has  satisfactorily  done  his  duty.  Men  of  the  world  ask  how 
can  all  this  be  ?  But  God  knows  it  is  so,  and  shall  be.  And  the  devotee  feels 
when  the  Lord  hath  said  so  it  shall  be.  But  how,  by  what  means,  who 
will  tell  ?  Heaven  knows,  earth  does  not.  Again  when  it  is  seen  that 
many  will  praise  a  certain  course  of  conduct,  I  feel  instantly  this  is 
what  ought  not  to  be  done.  Why  should  I  do  that  which  learned  men 
praise,  great  men  admire,  and  common  men  exalt  ?  My  mind  dictates  an- 
other course  of  conduct.  Looking  heavenwards,  I  perceive  it  is  right.  But 
if  it  is  done  the  rich  and  learned  will  call  me  a  fool.  Every  one  will  speak 
ill  of  me,  I  will  be  insulted,  men  will  not  come  to  hear  my  speeches,  even 
dear  friends  will  desert  me,  both  mind  and  body  will  become  enfeebled. 
Whenever  I  feel  all  this,  I  immediately  decide  this  is  just  the  thing  which 
must  be  done.  Because  that  which  attracts  the  enmity  of  the  world,  attracts 
the  friendliness  of  God.  Where  the  world  says  a  thousand  men  are  necessaiy, 
the  devotee  of  God  says  five  men  will  do,  but  if  you  get  twelve,  the  utmost 
number  has  been  reached.  What  twelve  can  do,  a  hundred  thousand  cannot 
do.  If  you  get  thirteen  in  the  place  of  twelve,  they  will  spoil  it  all.  There- 
fore I  try  to  have  few  men,  it  is  against  God's  will  to  have  too  many.  A  few 
men  always  form  the  pillar  on  which  is  borne  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
invincible  twelve  have  been  victorious  on  earth.  When  the  Minister  sees  many 
coming  he  pitches  the  key  of  his  spiritual  gamut  so  high  that  only  the  few  can 
join  it.     When  he  finds  too  many    around  him  he  introduces  most  difficult 


THE  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  VICTORY.  523 

disciplines,  they  are  disgusted,  some  of  them  spread  bad  reports  against  him, 
and  many  go  away.  The  five  hundred  are  cut  and  clipped,  till  the  whole  force 
of  spirituality  is  concentrated  in  five  men  of  the  inner  circle.  Let  me  give  you 
the  assurance  that  by  taking  too  much  thought  you  cannot  preserve  your  body, 
and  much  less  your  soul.  Establish  your  religion  where  the  mountain  chasm 
yawns  under  your  feet,  and  where  you  may  slip  in  any  moment.  You  wish  to 
do  the  works  of  charity  when  there  are  lakhs  of  rupees  at  your  feet  ?  Nay, 
nay.  Rend  your  cloth,  and  hold  a  thread  out  of  that  to  give  unto  God's 
work,  and  before  the  next  day  dawn  He  will  give  you  all  you  want.  God's 
wealth  belongs  to  His  eldest  sons,  and  what  is  the  eldest's  is  the  youngest's 
also.     I  have  nothing ;  I  am  wealthy  in  possessing  God  alone. 

Chapter  XL    The  Achievement  of  Victory. 

When  I  opened  my  shop  in  the  delightful   market  of  God  my  rule  was 
never  to  take  or  give  anything  on   credit.     As   my  means  and   resources  so 
my  sales  and  purchases,  everything  in  cash.     I  have  never  wavered  from  this 
principle.     I  did  not  enter  into  the  commerce  of  religion  by  another  man's 
advice,   and  what  was  not  mine  I  never  claimed  as  mine.      The   little  I 
possessed,  whether  of  love,   or  faith,  or  knowledge,  I  transacted  upon,  and 
never  meddled  with   anything  beyond   that.     Thus  have  I  carried   on  my 
trade,  thus  secured  many  customers,    by  this  principle  alone  has  my  busi- 
ness prospered.     I  never  took  thought  as  to   what  the   scriptures  taught, 
or  what  men  taught,    I  always  felt  that  if  I  tasted  things  by  other   men's 
tongue,  I  should  get  into  trouble.     From  the   first  my  resolution  was  first 
to  understand  things,   and  then  to  do  them.     Whether  it  be  asceticism  or 
Yoga,  I  should  take  nothing  at  another  man's  word.    I  had  eyes,  ears,  hands ; 
I  should  prove  everything  and   then  decide.     The  Mother  was  in  my  home, 
my  Guide  was  always  at  hand.    I  will  ask  Him,    and  He  will  explain  every 
thing.    What  store  I  had  that  I  traded  in ;  if  I  should  want  more  God  would 
give  it.     Thus  I  would  increase,  and  thus  afterwards  I  would  turn  wealthy. 
Now  I  have   traded  well,  and  God  has  given  me  abundance  and  prosperity. 
I  wanted  to  trade  in  cash  not  because  I  had  infidelity  or  avarice,  but  because 
in  the  bright  dawn  of  religion,  God  had  promised  to  make  a  ready  payment  for 
every  thing.   Hence  my  faith  that  whatsoever  thing  is  necessary,  let  man,  so  far 
as  he  can  try  to  acquire  it,  the  Father  will  surely  give  him  the  rest.     Thus  has 
my  practice  of  religion  always  been.     I  have  been  a  gainer  by  not  waiting  in 
expectation  of  future  gain.     I  had  patience  but  for  the  night,  next   morning 


524  APPENDIX. 

I  got  all  I  wanted.    Thus  I  see  whatever  I  have  prayed  for  either  in  regard  to 
myself,  or  my  country,  or  the  world,  or  mankind,  has  been  given  me.     I  have 
heard  what  men  say  of  delays,   and  impossibilities,    of  triumph   in  a    better 
world,    of  achievements  in   the   future,   and  I  have   found   plenty  of  ground 
for  such  faith  in  men.     But  what  it  took  other  men  to  wait  for  very  long,  so 
that  their  body  and  mind  were  wasted  in  waiting  night  and  day,  we  have  ob- 
tained by  our  ordinary  strength,  and  ordinaiy  effort.     Large-hearted  prophets 
and  seers  after  much  suffering  and  labour  in  the  cause  of  truth,  failed   in  the 
commerce   of  this  world,  and  departed  for  the  next.     A  thousand  years  after 
they  sowed  their  seeds  the  harvest  was  reaped.     But  times  are  favorable  to  us. 
Strong  love  changes  circumstances.     We  now  see  that  the  labour  of  twenty- 
five  years  produces  the  work  of  five  hundred  years.     It  takes  now  only  an 
hour  to  do  what  used  to  be  done  in  twenty-four.     What  did  we  see  twenty- 
five  years  before,  what  do  we  see  now  ?    What  disputes  were  there  between 
one  religion  and  another  ;  what  fatal  tendencies  had  men  to  impiety ;  what 
want  of  love  to  God ;  what  want  of  enthusiasm  in  the  weak  character  of  the 
Bengali  ?     After  a  few  years'  work  the  prospects  of  spreading  and  perpetua- 
ting truth  are  much  greater.     In  that  land  where  most   good   deeds  crumble 
into  dust,  behold  the  religion  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  is  transformed  into  the 
New  Dispensation.     There   has  not   been  a  year   without   progress,  not   a 
month  or  a   week    when   the   spirit   of  God    has   been   asleep.     Formerly 
men  had  heard  but  little  of  the  good   news  of  heaven.     To-day  the  gospel 
roars  as  a  lion.     Not  only  Bengal,  but  all  India  trembles  as  if  in  an  earth- 
quake,   what  is  there  in  relation  to   the  New   Dispensation  which  has  not 
found  its  fulfilment  ?     Great   deeds   have    been   done.     And    now   looking 
up   to  the    Sun   of  Truth,    holding    in  my  hand    the  fire  of  realities,    I  can 
declare  what  I  had   to  gain,  I  have  gained  ;  what  I  had  to  see,  I  have  seen. 
Now  nothing  can  daunt  me,  nothing  can  wound   me.     Whatever   accounts   I 
look   into,  I  find  I  began  with  five  rupees  and  gained  five  lakhs.     My  handful 
of  dust  has  been  turned  into  a  handful  of  gold.     In  this  country  not  long  ago 
drunkenness   was   becoming   fearfully  prevalent,  and  now  men  are  inebriated 
with  the  Bhakti  taught  by  Chaitanya.     The  floods  of   doubt,    unbelief,    and 
atheism   were  coming,  and  now  men  and  women  exclaim  "  We  have  attained 
Him,  He  is  in  our  hearts  ?  "    The    temple   of  the  Vaishnava  and  the  temple 
of    the    Shakta   are   now  united  into  the  great  temple  of  God.     Distinctions 
of  caste  and  various  superstitions  were  there  in    the  land.     How  often   have 
I   wept  tears  of  bitterness  over   all  such  evil !    But  at  every  drop  of  tear  a 


SYNTHESIS   AND   ANALYSIS.  525 

bigha  of  land  has  borne  fruit,  not  by  my  merit,  but  by  the  grace  of  God. 
I  see  good  on  every  side.  I  came  into  the  world  to  be  triumphant,  in  my  old 
age  youth  seems  to  come  back  to  me  again.  It  kindles  my  eyes,  and  sets  my 
enthusiasm  once  more  ablaze.  I  have  been  pained,  persecuted,  and 
trodden  under  foot,  but  I  could  never  feel  I  had  lost  anything.  Glory  be 
unto  my  God ! 

Chapter  XII.    Synthesis  and  Analysis. 

The  mind  divides  into  parts  an  entire  object,  and  again  unites  the  broken 
parts  into  a  whole.  In  spiritual  things  also  this  process  of  division  and 
union  goes  on.  As  in  the  material  world  objects  are  reduced  to  atoms,  and 
the  atoms  again  are  reunited  into  objects,  so  in  the  religious  world  analysis 
and  synthesis  take  place.  In  certain  minds  the  analytical  faculty  predomi- 
nates ;  in  other  minds  the  synthetical  faculty  is  stronger.  Some  men  by  the 
power  of  thought  always  resolve  a  subject  into  its  constituents,  study 
an  idea  in  its  many  parts,  and  examine  a  thing  in  each  of  its  qualities. 
Some  again  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  all  this  analysis,  but  behold  objects 
in  their  entirety.  In  my  mind  there  is  an  effort  to  reconcile  these  two 
tendencies.  It  cannot  be  said  I  arrived  at  this  reconciliation  all  at  once,  for 
I  too  in  the  beginning,  like  all  men,  took  a  partial  view  of  things,  and 
understood  a  subject  in  one  particular  relation,  unconnected  with  others. 
For  instance  my  one  great  care  at  first  was  how  to  get  rid  of  certain  sins. 
Then  for  some  time  my  care  was  that  I  might  be  of  service  to  my  fellowmen. 
At  one  time  I  was  fond  of  study,  at  another  time  I  grew  weary  of  learning. 
Now  I  practised  asceticism,  at  another  time  love,  at  another  time  holiness. 
Among  the  attributes  of  God  I  learnt  at  first  to  perceive  the  attribute  justice. 
Reflecting  upon  justice  my  mind  was  strongly  stirred  by  the  feeling  of 
repentance.  Then  after  a  long  time  I  learnt  to  behold  His  meicy,  and  instead 
of  repentance  there  was  love  in  my  heart.  I  had  not  the  desire  of  reconcil- 
ing all  the  attributes  together,  and  took  up  only  that  which  was  of  use 
to  me  at  the  time.  The  faculty  of  analysis  was  strong  in  me,  I  had  no 
love  tor  the  undivided  ;  I  could  not  comprehend  the  undivided.  I  was  like 
a  sick  man  ;  from  the  great  dispensary  before  me  I  took  only  that  medicine 
which  suited  my  case,  but  did  not  grasp  the  whole  scene  of  beauty  before  me.* 
I  had  terrible  wants,  and  each  want  demanded  its  particular  satisfaction. 
So  I  acquired  that  which  I  most  needed.     But  though  my  nature  thus  acted 

*  In  India  public  dispensaries  are  very  grandly  furnished. 

67 


526  APPENDIX. 

prosaically,  I  observed  there  was  enough  poetry  in  it  too.  I  found  it  was 
nature's  design  to  make  the  acquisition  of  one  thing  after  another,  and  then 
in  due  time  to  gather  all  the  acquirements  into  a  great  whole.  All  good 
things  were  thus  strung  together  in  a  beautitul  garland  by  an  unseen  hand.  I 
had  no  desire  for  this  at  first,  but  the  New  Dispensation  did  it  for  me 
afterwards.  "Who  knew  before  that  Jesus  should  be  honored  ?  When  I 
found  that  Chaitanya  was  necessary  I  went  to  Nadea,  brought  him,  and 
installed  him  in  my  heart.  "When  Buddha  became  necessary,  I  took  him 
from  under  the  great  Bo  tree,  and  gave  him  a  place  in  my  life.  I  never  knew 
at  first  that  the  three  should  be  united,  and  thus  a  communion  of  saints,  a 
band  of  devotees  was  to  be  constructed.  I  can  never  rest  contented  with  one 
idea,  this  is  a  strong  tendency  in  me.  Justice  I  took  hold  of  to  cure  my  sin  ; 
but  if  I  confined  myself  to  it  I  felt  my  religion  might  become  exclusive,  and 
immediately  therefore  I  take  to  the  contemplation  of  love.  This  brings  much 
joy,  and  I  am  in  a  laughing  mood  continually.  Then  again  I  felt  I  must  not 
run  too  fast  in  the  way  of  sentiment,  and  took  to  the  contemplation  of  justice 
again.  When  I  found  too  much  study  made  me  unduly  intellectual,  I  took  to 
the  simplicity  of  the  child.  Thus  to  keep  the  balance  of  my  soul  has  been  my 
effort  at  all  times.  As  in  regard  to  myself,  so  in  regard  to  others.  When- 
ever I  see  the  Brahmo  public  too  intent  on  outward  work  and  labour,  I  try  to 
direct  its  course  towards  spiritual  matters,  till  in  a  little  while  I  see  the  man 
of  much  work  has  become  contemplative,  and  turning  his  back  to  outward 
things,  is  enjoying  the  deep  delight  of  communion  with  God.  Though  I 
have  spent  my  days  thus,  yet  my  progress  has  always  been  towards  har- 
mony. I  have  now  left  all  exclusive  religion  for  the  ideal  of  synthetic  perfec- 
tion. The  great  Jesus  said,  "  Be  perfect  as  God."  From  a  long  time  I  have 
inscribed  this  precept  in  letters  of  gold.  God's  qualities  are  perfect,  every 
attribute,  justice,  or  mercy,  or  wisdom,  showing  its  own  fulness.  Not  so  in 
me.  In  trying  to  be  ascetic  I  cease  to  be  joyful,  in  trying  to  be  joyful,  I  cease 
to  be  strict.  I  see  God  in  water  more  than  in  land  ;  I  see  Him  more  in  the 
holy  man  than  in  the  sinner.  I  see  the  God  of  Christ,  not  the  God  of 
Buddha,  my  intellect  accepts  one  idea,  and  expels  another.  This  partial  view 
came  from  secret  sin,  and  I  have  outgrown  it.  The  New  Dispensation  cannot 
foster  such  exclusiveness.  If  1  love  one  devotee,  all" devotees  come  in  ;  if  I  sec 
one  part  of  God,  all  parts  fill  in.  I  have  bound  all  things  now  in  a  great 
nosegay,  which  I  call  the  New  Dispensation. 


THE  THREEFOLD  SENTIMENT.  527 

Chapter  XIII.    The  Threefold  Sentiment  (Child,  Madman, 

Inebriate) 

The   nature   of  the  devotee  is  not  composed  of  a  single  metal,    it  is   a 
compound  of  different  metals.     Reflecting  on  my  own   life  I    discover  in  it 
three  metals.     Not  that  I  began   life  by  wilfully  combining  these  three,  but 
when  after  the  lapse  of  many  years  I  looked  into   myself,  I    came  to  the  con- 
clusion my   character  had  more  than  one  element  in  it,  and  by  further  exami- 
nation I  determined  the   nature  of  the   elements.     There  are   three   natures 
united   in   me,    three  persons,  the  one  is  a  child,  the  second  a  madman,  and 
the    third  an   inebriate.     In   this    union    I  have   gained   wonderful  wisdom, 
holiness,    and    salvation.     Nature    is    incomplete   if  any    one  of  the  three  is 
left  out,  as  if  God  has  declared  that  unless  the  three  materials  are  mixed  in 
a   man,   he  will  be   neither   happy  nor  good.     The  more  a  man  seeks  God 
the  more   childlike   he   becomes ;    the  more   he   communes    with   God  the 
more  like  a  madman  he  becomes ;    and  the   more   he   tastes     of   Heaven 
the  more   of  an  inebriate    he    becomes.      In  the   first   stage  of   religious 
life  there  is   comparatively  little   of  these    three   qualities,    but   as  he  be- 
comes more   and  more   mature   they   increase.      The    nature  of  the   child 
is  he   dislikes  the  old,    loves   the    company  of  children,  loves  play.     I  have 
always  loved   the  company  of  the  child-like.     The  nature   of  the  old  man 
loses  energy,  zeal,  activity.     When  I  see  I   am   growing  in  simplicity,  in 
candor,  wanting  to  speak  out   my  mind,   and  hating  the  deceit  and   double- 
dealing   of  the  aged,  I   know  I   am   child-like.     The   scriptures    of  my  life- 
prove  that  with  growing  years  the  child-nature  grows   in  me.     According  to 
the  erroneous  arithmetic  of  the  world  I  am  obliged  to  say  my  age  increases, 
but  according  to  the  calculations  of  our  own  country,  I  feel  I  am   becoming 
younger  and  younger.     If  you  feel  it  impossible  to  believe  this,  at  least  believe 
I  am  not  growing   older.     "When  watching  for   the  day-dawn,  as   the  clock 
strikes  four,  how  much  difference  does  it  make  in  your  calculation  if  it  is  only 
three  or  four  minutes  later  ?    Is  it  not  still  day-dawn  ?    What  then  are  thirty 
or  forty  years  before  the  infinite   years   of  eternity?     If  a   child    is  eighteen 
months  old,   will   four  days  more  make  much  difference  in  its  age  ?    In  the 
place  where  I  have  to  work  for  millions  of  years  I  am   still  a  child.     I  have 
just  come  to  the  world,  and  have  no  time  to  think  of  death.     A  year  or  a 
century  is  like  a   second.     If  a  man  die  at  eighty,  you  say  he  died  very  old, 
in  our  country   we  say  behold  the  departure  of  an  infant  of  two  summers  ; 


528  APPENDIX. 

you  say  he  runs,  we  say  he  creeps.  A  man  is  not  old  when  his  body  fades, 
childhood  means  the  freshness  of  mind.  The  mind's  heaven  is  the  real  heaven, 
may  God  preserve  that.  "When  I  go  into  the  next  world,  I  shall  enter  into  a 
new  school,  and  learn  new  lessons  of  God's  love.  With  this  material  of  child- 
hood there  is  the  material  of  lunacy.  The  philosophy  of  the  lunatic  is  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  world  at  which  he  laughs.  He  does  not  count  the 
gain  or  loss  of  the  world,  he  rushes  on  to  a  hundred  losses.  Men  think 
themselves  rich  when  they  get  thousands,  the  lunatic^thinks  himself  rich 
when  he  has  nothing.  I  count  myself  very  fortunate  if  I  find  anything  in 
me  which  I  can  laugh  at.  The  more  I  forget  the  world  like  a  madman, 
the  happier  I  am.  I  fear  to  tread  in  the  path  where  the  prudent  of  the 
world  go  ;  if  any  business  takes  me  there,  I  try  to  leave  it  soon.  I  always 
want  to  go  where  devotees,  like  madmen,  sing  and  dance  in  the  excitement 
of  God's  name.  When  I  can  pray  like  a  madman,  study  like  a  madman, 
then  I  am  happy.  The  third  element  in  me  is  that  of  the  inebriate.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  the  passion  for  drinking  wine.  In  such  nature  as  mine 
there  is  the  same  passion.  The  inebriate  always  increases  his  dose,  so  do  I. 
Formerly  my  devotions  took  five  minutes ;  now  they  take  five  hours.  For- 
merly I  was  content  to  call  upon  God  only  once,  now  I  call  many  times,  and 
am  still  not  satisfied.  Any  kind  of  wine  did  for  me  before,  now  I  want 
strong  hot  wine,  such  as  was  drunk  by  Jesus  and  Chaitanya.  I  pray  to  God 
with  folded  hands  ;  this  is  one  kind  of  prayer  ;  but  the  prayer  of  Jesus,  Moses, 
or  Chaitanya  was  of  another  kind.  When  I  think  of  all  this,  I  lose  every 
sense  of  the  world.  I  was  satisfied  before  if  I  could  preach  to  six  hundred 
men,  now  my  nature  demands  more  than  six  thousand.  Nay  I  wait  for 
the  day  when  the  whole  East  and  West  shall  become  maddened  and 
inebriated  by  the  love  of  God.  I  have  within  me,  and  honor  the  man  who 
has  these  three  elements. 

Chapter  XIV.    The  Recognition  of  Caste. 

If  men  are  divided  into  two  classes,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  among  which  ol 
these  should  I  be  included  ?  O  my  soul,  what  is  thy  caste  ?  Art  thou  the 
child  of  the  rich  man,  or  the  poor  man  ?  I  want  to  know  my  own  nature. 
Like  which  of  these  two  castes  are  my  tastes  and  desires,  the  company  of 
what  sort  of  men  do  I  like,  and  whose  ways  do  I  love  to  follow.  After  a 
minute  self-examination  of  the  last  twenty-live  years  I  have  concluded  that 
I  belong  to  the  caste  of  the  poor.     In  my  daily  habits  and  actions  very  large 


THE  RECOGNITION   OF  CASTE.  529 

symptoms    of  poverty  are  seen.     I    do  not  say  this  out  of  mere  supposition, 
that  would  be  speaking  falsehood  from  the  holy  pulpit.     I  have  observed  the 
traits  of  my  nature  very  deeply,  and  I  can,  with  truth  for  my  witness,  declare 
I  am   among   the   poor-spirited.      Though   born   high,   though   beset    with 
various   signs  of  wealth,  yet  the  feelings  of  my  mind  do  not  correspond  to 
them.    I  have  wealth,  but  no  heart  in  it ;  there  is  plenty  of  delicate  food  around 
me,  but  I  have  no  delight  in  it.     My  mind  is  pleased  with  very  simple  things. 
If  I  see  two  companies  of  men,  one  rich,  the  other  poor,  my  nature   likes   to 
consort    with    the  poor,  and  finds  pleasure  in  them.     All  this  determines  my 
caste   without  chance  of  mistake.     Though,  however,  my  heart  be  meek,  the 
circumstances  around  me  are  those  of  the  rich.     It  is  easy  to  examine  myself 
in  this  state  of  contrast.     If  instead  of  being  born  in  a  palace  I  was  born   in  a 
hovel,  the  examination  would  be  more  difficult,  because  then  my  poverty  might 
become  enforced,  and  secretly  in  the    mind    there    might   lurk    the   fever   of 
the  desire    of  wealth.     When,    however,    my     outward     condition    is    that 
of  the   rich,  it  ought  to  be    decided  whether  my  heart  is  satisfied   with  that 
condition,  or  whether  high-placed  as  it  is,  it  seeks  poverty.    Very  humble  food 
gives  me  contentment.     It  is  not  a  difficult  thing  for  me  to  practise  poverty, 
my  nature    takes   delight  in   rice   and   herbs.     I   have   a    passion  for   such 
things.     Whether  others  are  pleased  or  not  at  this,  to  me  it   is   a   source   of 
wonderful    joy.      If   I    have    to    travel  by  railroad,   I   generally  go   third 
class.     I  fear  to  travel  first  class,  lest  I  should  trespass  into  the  domain  of 
the  rich.     My  mind  says  there  is  luxury  but  anxiety  in  the   first   class,   there 
is  rest  and  ease  in  the  third.     Thus   I  decide  I  am  made  for  the  poor,  not 
for  the  rich.     Where  the   poor   are,  there    is  rest    for   me,    there  is  life  for 
me.     I   never   learnt    this   poverty  by  effort,  it  came  to  me  naturally.     Who 
taught  me  that  when  I  was  to  walk  in   procession   singing   through    the  city 
streets  the  name  of  God,  I  should    go  bare-footed  like  a  poor  man  ?     Did  I 
for  one  moment  take  thought  what  civilized  society  should  should  say  at  this, 
that  the  newspapers  would  ridicule  me  ?     I  knew  it  would  be  called  degrading 
and  still  I  did  it.     I  could    give    many    more  instances.     Whether  the  world 
understands   it   or   not,    there   is  no    doubt    in  my  own  mind  that  my  nature 
belongs    to    the    caste    of   the    poor,    my    body  is   the  poor  man's  body. 
True  I  sometimes  sit  with  the  rich,  I  shake  hands  with  great  men,  but  does 
that  change  my  mind  ?     If  the  Chandala  touches  the  hands  of  the  Brahman, 
does   he    become  a    Brahman  ?     If  the   eater  of  herbs  is  feasted  once  in  his 
life  in  the  house  of  an   emperor,  does  he  become  a  rich   man  ?    My  nature 


530  APPENDIX. 

never  changes,  and  therefore  I  can  safely  mix  with  every  one.  I  also 
know  and  determine  by  secret  signs  who  have  the  ba  dge  of  my  caste. 
But  one  thing  I  must  say  I  always  find  in  my  scriptures.  Though  I  always 
keep  the  company  of  poor  ragged  men,  and  they  are  my  dearest  friends,  yet 
I  honour  the  rich.  The  notion  generally  is  to  hate  the  rich,  and  give  honor 
to  the  poor  ;  salvation  is  not  for  the  rich,  where  there  is  prosperity  and 
rank  no  virtue  can  abide  ;  religion  dwells  only  in  the  hovel.  But  the  New 
Dispensation  teaches  us  to  honor  the  rich  and  honor  the  poor,  they  both 
go  forward  to  the  gates  of  heaven.  Love  both  impartially,  there  is  no 
harm  whether  a  man  be  outwardly  rich,  when  he  is  poor  in  spirit.  God  the 
source  of  all  virtue,  dwells  in  the  palace  and  cottage  alike.  I  have  asked 
my  Father  why  He  sent  me  to  a  wealthy  family,  and  beset  me  with  every 
manner  of  prosperity  ;  why  I  was  sent  for  education  to  the  College  of  the 
wealthy,  and  in  early  age  kept  the  company  of  rich  high  born  young  men  ? 
He  placed  me  in  the  midst  of  wealth  and  luxury,  but  concentrated  all  po- 
verty in  my  heart.  Gifted  with  this  double  condition  I  learnt  to  love  the 
rich  and  poor  alike.  I  have  spread  one  arm  towards  the  rich  to  draw 
them  into  the  New  Dispensation  ;  I  have  spread  the  other  arm  towards  the 
poor  to  embrace  the  humble  indigent  wayfarers  of  life.  The  learned  and 
the  rich  sit  on  one  side  of  me  ;  the  poor  and  the  unlearned  sit  on  the  other 
side. 

Chapter  XV.    Discipleship. 

The  world  is  the  seminary  of  God.  So  long  as  we  are  to  be  here, 
we  shall  have  to  acquire  piety  and  the  knowledge  of  God.  Therefore 
I  have  never  looked  upon  myself  as  a  teacher,  and  never  shall.  I  came  as  a 
learner,  I  am  still  learning,  and  for  ever  shall  remain  a  disciple.  The 
leading  idea  of  the  Sikh  religion,  that  of  discipleship,  is  flowing 
in  my  blood,  and  gives  vigor  to  my  life.  The  mornings  and  evenings 
teach  me,  I  read  from  the  scriptures  of  prosperity  and  adversity.  Every 
object  is  my  teacher,  every  animal  is  my  teacher,  and  I  have  learnt  a  great 
deal  from  human  nature.  Wherever  I  open  my  eyes  I  see  a  school,  and 
when  I  shut  my  eyes  I  see  a  grander  school.  My  desire  to  learn  is  great, 
the  objects  to  leach  me  are  boundless.  Various  facts  preach  loving  wisdom. 
I  have  never  found  myself  in  want  of  books,  and  I  cannot  believe  there 
will  ever  be  a  cessation  of  my  stud)-.  To  learn  is  my  trade,  my  life,  my 
happiness,    my    salvation.      The    sky  is  my  preceptor,  so  is  the  bird,  so  is  the 


DISCIPLESHIP.  531 

fish.    I  have  acknowledged  my  discipleship  to  all  things  ;  my  nature  is  well 
adapted  to  this.     The  discoverer  of  America  was  not  more  happy  in  finding 
out  a  new  world,  than  I  am  when  I  find  a  new  truth  of  religion  or  morality. 
My  process  of  learning  is  not  by    the   exercise   of  my   intellect,    not   by   the 
comparative  study  of  many  books,  but  as  the  lightning  flashes  across  darkness 
so    truth   flashes   across   my    mind.     While   perhaps   I    am    engaged    in   a 
duty,  or  looking  at  an  object,    it  seems    as  if  some  one   brings  me  suddenly 
the   message   of  a    new  truth,  it  enters  into  me  with  a  shock,  and  causes  my 
whole  mind  to  shake.      The    truths   that    thus   come   I   compare   with   the 
truths   that    I  had  before,    and   find  them  entirely  new  ;    the  joyful  Mother  is 
constantly   revealing   new   truths   in   the   firmament   of  my   soul,    and   this 
makes  me  exceedingly  happy.     As  it  satisfies  my  intellect  on  the  one  hand 
so  it  beautifies  my  life  with  holiness  on  the  other.     Content  with  the  acquire- 
ment of  the  world's  knowledge,  passing  the  appointed  number  of  examinations, 
have  I  set  myself  up  as  a  professor   of  sacred  learning  ?    It  has  never  yet 
come  to  my  mind   that   I  have  learnt   all  I  want  from  the  Great  Teacher. 
When  I  began  my  lectures  in  the   Brahmo   School  I  never  thought   so, 
and  seated  as  I  am  now  on  the  honored  pulpit  of  the  Brahma  Mandir,  I  do 
not  think  so.     The  joy  of  teaching  is  not  half  so  great  as  the  joy  of  learning, 
because  when  we  learn  a  new  truth,    we  possess  a  new  world.     When  a 
professor  of  music  by   repeated   practice  is  able  at  last  to  compose  a  new 
combination  of  sounds,  when  a  fisherman  by  casting  his  net  brings  up   a  fish 
unseen  and  unknown  before,    when  a  painter  strikes  out  a  new  combination 
of  colours,  or  is  able  to  give  expression  to  a  new  ideal,  when  an  astronomer 
discovers  a  new  planet  in  the  midnight    sky,   how  unspeakable  is  their  joy  ! 
The  throne  of   an  emperor,   the  wealth  of  a  nation  is  not   comparable  to 
that.     Joy  thrills  with  electric  currents  through  one  end  of  their  body  to  an- 
other.    And  equally  great  is  the  joy  of  the  learner  when  he  learns  a  new 
truth.     But  when  truth  enters  into  a  mind,  it   must   also   find   its  way  out. 
Those   who   come   from   our   country   have   two   doors   to  their  houses,  one 
for  the  import,  the   other  for   the   export   of  wisdom.     It  finds  its  way  in, 
and  then  goes  out    for  the  good  of  the  world  again,  returning  with  fourfold 
profit  into  the  mind  of  the   learner.     It   increases   when   stored   up    in   the 
heart,  it  increases  still  more  when   spent  for   the  good  of  mankind.     All  my 
eager  desire  is   to    acquire    truth,    I    take    no  thought    how   I   shall  preach 
it.     Whenever  I   have  to  preach,   truth  rushes  out  by  its  own  force.     The 
profession  of  the  teacher  (guru)  is  vain.     I    never   took    it,    and   never  shall 


532  APPENDIX. 

take  it.  I  do  not  teach  this  year  what  I  taught  in  the  last  year,  I  do  not  offer 
the  same  prayer  to-day  that  I  did  yesterday  ;  nor  do  I  repeat  the  same 
lecture  over  and  over.  My  reservoirs  are  never  dry.  I  never  deal  in  silt 
and  mud.  As  God  has  been  merciful  to  me  in  other  things,  so  in  this.  I 
have  never  been  in  want  of  what  to  say,  or  write,  or  think.  I  have  never 
wished  to  reproduce  yesterday  as  to-day,  enact  old  history  as  new,  and 
chew  the  cud  of  the  past.  My  tongue  sticks  to  the  palate  when  I  think 
I  am  teaching  people,  but  I  rejoice  when  I  remember  I  am  still  learning. 
For  me  to  learn  is  to  teach,  when  I  acquire  a  truth  hundreds  also  acquire 
it ;  when  it  is  proclaimed  to  me  it  shall  be  proclaimed  everywhere  with 
great  sounding  instruments.  What  I  learn,  India  also  learns,  because  I  am  al- 
ways intently  looking  for  the  good  of  my  land.  As  if  some  bird  carries  abroad 
my  truth  in  its  beak.  My  heart  is  connected  by  secret  channels  with  the  hearts 
of  my  brethren,  and  everything  good  in  my  heart  flows  on  into  theirs. 
Whoever  be  the  man  that  brings  any  new  message  to  the  world,  even  if  a  com- 
mon street  singer  and  mendicant,  I  sit  at  his  feet  and  learn.  There  is  no  good 
man  who  comes  near  me  without  pouring  some  new  truth  into  my  heart. 
God  has  implanted  in  me  a  force  by  which  I  can  draw  in  the  good  qualities 
of  every  one.     I  have  been  a  learner  and  disciple  all  my  life. 


Date  Due 

£jzM£W 

**•*> 

TTIHrtiliwH^jj 

«*** 

4H&FT*f*& 

| 

*-   +.„r«m 

**•«***•-*    "ih^rJ 

f 

PRINTED      IN  U.  S.  A. 
1 

?frehf6e5a?d  Sings  of  Keshub  Chi 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  ' 


1   1012  00163  3645